Handelsbanken Fonder AB Boosts Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 158,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in MKS were worth $25,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $36,631,000 after purchasing an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,020,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,618,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha bought a new stake in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,668,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI stock opened at $311.51 on Thursday. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.22 and a 12 month high of $326.83. The stock has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a PE ratio of 65.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.98. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $262.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.26.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $1,007,335.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. This represents a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter Cannone III sold 1,350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.40, for a total value of $409,590.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,364,699.60. This represents a 14.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,608 shares of company stock valued at $19,849,814. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.77.

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.