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 on 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 trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI traded down $1.38 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $252.33. 1,041,971 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,654,198. The company has a market cap of $16.95 billion, a PE ratio of 57.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.94. MKS Inc. has a twelve month low of $54.84 and a twelve month high of $269.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.71 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $206.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $157.93.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.14%.

Key Stories Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokers raised price targets and reiterated Buy/Overweight views (recent top targets reported near $300–$305), which supports upside expectations versus the recent run-up. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: CEO John T.C. Lee will appear in a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom fireside chat (Mar 2, webcast available). That event gives management a public forum to update investors on demand trends, product roadmap and margins. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: MKS increased its quarterly dividend (to $0.25/share), signaling confidence in cash flow and returning capital to shareholders. That supports longer‑term investor interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street coverage remains broadly constructive (multiple Buy/Overweight ratings and a mid‑range analyst median target), which underpins sentiment but may be partially priced in after the recent share run. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling was filed on Feb. 20: CEO John T.C. Lee sold 30,000 shares (~$7.7M) and multiple other executives/directors sold additional stakes (totaling tens of thousands of shares). Those Form 4 disclosures have reduced insiders’ positions and are pressuring sentiment near current levels. Read More.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after buying an additional 89,502 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,729,000 after acquiring an additional 6,725 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in MKS by 553.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MKSI. Bank of America increased their price objective on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $320.00 price objective on MKS in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

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.