9,624 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Bought by Squarepoint Ops LLC

Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,624 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $956,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Steph & Co. bought a new position in MKS in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its stake in MKS by 25.0% in the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $64,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $159.56 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $10.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.86. MKS Inc. has a 1 year low of $54.84 and a 1 year high of $170.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $148.97 and a 200-day moving average of $121.33.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $988.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $963.87 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $36,642.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,182.68. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,011,514.03. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on MKS from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 price target on shares of MKS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.10.

MKS Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) designs, manufactures and markets technology solutions that enable advanced processes in a variety of high‐technology and industrial markets. The company’s core offerings include vacuum and gas delivery systems, pressure and flow measurement instruments, optical metrology tools, photonics subsystems and critical components for manufacturing processes. These products support the precise control and monitoring needs of semiconductor, industrial manufacturing, life and health sciences, and research applications.

The company’s product portfolio features mass flow controllers, pressure transducers, vacuum gauges, gas purity monitors, laser-based metrology systems and photonic devices such as lasers and detectors.