MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke Sells 4,254 Shares

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,254 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,063,500.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 53,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,448,500. This represents a 7.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

MKS Price Performance

MKSI stock opened at $253.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $206.74 and a 200-day moving average of $157.93. The company has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.06, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.94. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $269.91.

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

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in MKS in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. acquired a new position in MKS in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in MKS by 74.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued 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.

Key Headlines Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple Wall Street firms recently raised price targets on MKSI, signaling continued analyst optimism about the company’s growth prospects; examples of recent target increases include $300 and $305 actions. Price Target Raised to $300.00 Price Target Raised to $305.00
• Positive Sentiment: MKS announced that President & CEO John T.C. Lee will participate in a fireside chat at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on March 2 (webcast available) — a visibility event that can provide fresh management commentary on demand, margins and roadmap. Company Conference Participation
• Neutral Sentiment: The Street remains broadly constructive on MKSI (multiple buy/overweight ratings and a recent median price target near $255), which supports a positive medium-term view but may already be reflected in the stock’s run-up. Analyst Coverage Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling was disclosed on Feb. 20: CEO John T.C. Lee sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M) and several other executives/directors sold additional stakes (total ~43,295 shares for roughly $11.1M). These sales materially reduced some insiders’ ownership (CEO down ~16.2%; others down as much as ~36%), which is putting downward pressure on the share price. SEC Form 4 filings are available for review. CEO Form 4

MKS Company 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.