Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 9,374 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its position in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 9,374 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in MKS were worth $1,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 0.4% in the fourth 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of MKS by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $97,635,000 after purchasing an additional 301,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter valued at about $147,453,000. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 870,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $139,131,000 after purchasing an additional 24,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other MKS news, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. This trade represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI stock traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $368.58. The company had a trading volume of 862,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,471,869. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $344.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.94. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.49 and a 52-week high of $447.62. The company has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.93.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly 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 business 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 company earned $1.71 EPS. The business’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 research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given 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 was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

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.