North Dakota State Investment Board Makes New Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

North Dakota State Investment Board purchased a new position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 2,358 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 43.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,631,000 after buying an additional 89,502 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $1,020,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth $3,618,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its stake in shares of MKS by 553.5% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $1,668,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $320.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $266.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.17. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.22 and a 12 month high of $326.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $21.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Zacks Research raised shares of MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.77.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $1,007,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. This trade represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,313 shares of company stock worth $6,253,264. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

MKS 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.