Gerald Colella Sells 10,000 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Director Gerald Colella sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $252.90, for a total transaction of $2,529,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,649,299.30. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

MKS Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $255.91 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $210.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $159.68. The company has a market cap of $17.19 billion, a PE ratio of 58.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.95. MKS Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of MKS by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth $336,000. Optimum Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of MKS by 25.0% during the second quarter. Optimum Investment Advisors now owns 625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 9.3% during the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 156,496 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $15,549,000 after purchasing an additional 22,423 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Brokerages have pushed price targets higher and reiterated buy/overweight views, which supports upside expectations for MKSI. Price Target Raises
• Positive Sentiment: MKS increased its quarterly dividend to $0.25 (from $0.22), signaling confidence in cash flow and returning more capital to shareholders. Dividend & Stock Data
• Positive Sentiment: CEO John T.C. Lee will speak at Morgan Stanley’s Technology/Media/Telecom conference (March 2) — a visibility event that could provide fresh color on demand, margins and the roadmap. Conference Participation
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 was mixed: revenue grew ~10.5% and slightly beat consensus, but EPS missed by ~$0.04 and Q1 EPS guidance (1.720–2.280) leaves room for interpretation on near‑term margins. This supports the growth story but may already be priced in. Earnings Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling reported Feb. 20–24: CEO and several executives/directors sold tens of thousands of shares (CEO sales alone roughly $7–8M), reducing some officers’ holdings materially — a near‑term negative that can pressure sentiment. CEO Form 4
• Negative Sentiment: Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares (~$2.5M–$2.54M across filings), part of the broader wave of open‑market disposals that traders are watching. Colella Sale

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.