Eric Robert Taranto Sells 1,453 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 1,453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.55, for a total transaction of $359,690.15. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 20,013 shares in the company, valued at $4,954,218.15. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

MKS Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $251.41 on Wednesday. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a fifty day moving average of $208.65 and a 200 day moving average of $159.00.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. MKS’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is 22.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in MKS by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $959,477,000 after acquiring an additional 295,480 shares in the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,321,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $163,609,000 after purchasing an additional 94,692 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $156,602,000 after purchasing an additional 297,850 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,108 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $125,025,000 after purchasing an additional 35,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 79.3% during the 2nd quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 991,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $98,495,000 after buying an additional 438,338 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MKSI. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

Key MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism: multiple brokers recently raised targets and reiterated buy/overweight views, supporting upside expectations and a median/consensus target materially above earlier levels. Price Target Raises
• Positive Sentiment: Investor visibility event: CEO John T.C. Lee will speak at Morgan Stanley’s Tech/Media/Telecom conference (March 2) with a webcast available — a chance for management to update investors on demand, margins and roadmap. Conference Participation
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: MKS raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25/sh (from $0.22), signaling confidence in cashflow and returning more capital to shareholders. Dividend & Stock Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 results were mixed: revenue grew ~10.5% y/y and beat expectations, but EPS missed the consensus by a small amount; Q1 FY26 EPS guidance was provided (1.720–2.280), leaving room for interpretation on near‑term margins. This is supportive of a solid medium‑term story but may already be priced in. Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling: CEO John T.C. Lee sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M) and multiple other executives/directors sold additional stakes across Feb. 20–24 (totaling tens of thousands of shares, roughly ~$11M reported). These open‑market dispositions materially reduced some insiders’ holdings and are exerting downward pressure on the stock. SEC Form 4 filings for the CEO are available. CEO Form 4

About MKS

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.