Michelle Mccarthy Sells 1,466 Shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) CAO Michelle Mccarthy sold 1,466 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $366,500.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $251.41 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $208.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.89 billion, a PE ratio of 57.53, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.95. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting MKS

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth $527,000. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth about $336,000. Optimum Investment Advisors boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 9.3% in the 2nd 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. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.