MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 39.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,310 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,078 shares during the quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in shares of MKS by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. MAI Capital Management raised its position in shares of MKS by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,721,291.92. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total transaction of $71,832.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,468,668.72. This represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $278.59 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $242.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.18. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $58.85 and a 52 week high of $281.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.75, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.90. 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 (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). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. 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 previous year, the business posted $2.15 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.08.

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.