BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Purchases 2,082 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd boosted its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 11.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,705 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 2,082 shares during the quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in MKS were worth $8,765,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth $33,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth $36,000. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in MKS by 47.5% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total value of $131,757.67. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 4,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,181,494.38. The trade was a 10.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. This represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MKSI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho dropped their target price on MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings cut MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.86.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $268.05 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $306.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $295.95. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $107.64 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. MKS’s revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.95%.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.