Comerica Bank Decreases Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in MKS by 79.1% in Q4, selling 151,279 shares and now holds 39,852 shares valued at about $6.37 million.
• Insider and institutional activity: insiders sold 68,503 shares (~$17.29M) in the past three months while hedge funds/institutions own 99.79%; several firms (Millennium, Rafferty, Nomura, Bank of America) materially increased their positions.
• Business and market update: MKS posted Q4 EPS of $2.47 (missed by $0.04) and revenue of $1.03B (slightly above estimates), set Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 1.720–2.280, raised the quarterly dividend to $0.25, and trades near $283.75 with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” (avg. target ~$280.77).

Comerica Bank lessened its holdings in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 79.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,852 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 151,279 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.06% of MKS worth $6,368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 9,165.9% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 63.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in MKS by 316.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 426,509 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $52,789,000 after acquiring an additional 324,195 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth $40,023,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in MKS by 44.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $97,635,000 after acquiring an additional 301,223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total transaction of $71,832.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,468,668.72. The trade was a 1.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

MKS Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of MKSI opened at $283.75 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $246.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $201.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.90. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.51 and a 1-year high of $294.05.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS's payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $280.77.

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.

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