64,593 Shares in MKS Inc. $MKSI Bought by Bowie Capital Management LLC

Bowie Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 64,593 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,844,000. MKS accounts for approximately 0.5% of Bowie Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $200,438,000 after acquiring an additional 5,551 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in MKS by 44.2% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $97,635,000 after purchasing an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $147,453,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 63.4% during 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 buying an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $139,131,000 after buying an additional 24,349 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MKSI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Two equities research analysts have 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

MKS Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $344.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $23.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.14, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.49 and a 52 week high of $447.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $350.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.81.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $3,154,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at $45,648,694.08. This represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

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.