Fifth Third Bancorp Increases Stock Holdings in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in MKS Inc. by 3,011.9% in the first quarter, ending with 19,294 shares valued at about $4.43 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on MKS, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average target price of $380.
• MKS reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $2.30 and revenue of $1.08 billion, while also guiding Q2 2026 EPS to $2.60-$3.20.

Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 3,011.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 18,674 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in MKS were worth $4,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 55.2% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.00.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $324.69 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $88.49 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a market cap of $21.93 billion, a PE ratio of 67.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $275.27.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm's 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. On average, equities research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.95, for a total transaction of $688,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,033 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. The trade was a 17.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $630.46. This represents a 99.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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