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

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 522.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 109,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 92,000 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.16% of MKS worth $13,565,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. bought a new position in shares of MKS during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 74.5% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new position in MKS in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in MKS in the second quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in MKS in the third quarter worth about $49,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Bank of America upped their price target on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.46.

MKS Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $244.46 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.94, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.84 and a 12-month high of $269.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total value of $2,539,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,163,117.49. This represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.56, for a total transaction of $523,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 18,841 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,928,051.96. This trade represents a 9.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 63,595 shares of company stock valued at $16,183,893. 0.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS Company 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.