Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 48,800 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its MKS stake by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 48,800 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 158,400 shares worth about $25.3 million.
• MKS beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $2.30 EPS versus the $2.00 estimate and revenue of $1.08 billion, while also guiding Q2 2026 EPS above analyst expectations.
• Analysts remain constructive on the stock, with several raising price targets and the consensus rating currently sitting at “Moderate Buy” with an average target of $318.77.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 44.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,800 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.24% of MKS worth $25,312,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in MKS by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $959,477,000 after purchasing an additional 295,480 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in shares of MKS by 7.7% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,321,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $163,609,000 after buying an additional 94,692 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of MKS by 30.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $156,602,000 after buying an additional 297,850 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of MKS by 44.2% during the second 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 buying an additional 301,223 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 63.4% during the second 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 buying an additional 340,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

MKS Stock Up 5.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI 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 company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.17, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $262.41 and a 200-day moving average of $216.26.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In other MKS news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,721,291.92. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. This trade represents a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,608 shares of company stock valued at $19,849,814. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MKSI shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. KeyCorp upped their price target on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $318.77.

MKS 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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