Daventry Group LP Buys New Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Daventry Group LP purchased a new position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 36,556 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,401,000. MKS makes up about 9.6% of Daventry Group LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Daventry Group LP owned 0.05% of MKS as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in MKS by 159.7% during the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $134,196,000 after acquiring an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $315.70 on Tuesday. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.49 and a 52 week high of $447.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.05, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.93. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $351.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $283.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.71 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. The trade was a 99.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $385.00.

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.