Hsbc Holdings PLC Lowers Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings cut its stake in MKS Inc. by 50% in the fourth quarter, while institutional ownership in the company remains extremely high at 99.79%.
• Analysts are broadly optimistic on MKS, with several firms raising price targets; the stock now has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $380.
• MKS reported better-than-expected Q1 results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also issued Q2 2026 guidance of $2.60 to $3.20 per share. Insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 50.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in MKS in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in MKS by 560.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $453.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $380.00.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total value of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

MKS Stock Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:MKSI traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $368.58. 862,555 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,471,869. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.11, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.93. MKS Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.49 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $344.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued 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 (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

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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