MKS Inc. $MKSI Shares Sold by Fifth Third Bancorp

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp sharply cut its MKS stake by 90.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 620 shares valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors still own 99.79% of MKS stock, and several smaller funds recently initiated or increased positions.
• Analysts have turned more bullish on MKS, with Citigroup, JPMorgan, Needham, Morgan Stanley, KeyCorp, and others raising price targets while keeping buy/overweight-style ratings. The consensus analyst target is $317.23, near the stock’s recent trading level.
• MKS reported solid earnings and raised its dividend, topping EPS and revenue estimates in its latest quarter and issuing Q2 2026 guidance of $2.60 to $3.20 EPS. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.25 from $0.22, though insiders have sold shares in recent months.

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its stake in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Free Report) by 90.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 620 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 5,999 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in MKS were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in MKS during the third quarter worth $37,000. Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 118.9% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

MKS News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on MKS Inc. to $355 from $290 and kept a buy rating, implying more upside from current levels. Citigroup price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lifted its target to $365 from $305 and maintained an overweight rating, reinforcing bullish sentiment around the stock. JPMorgan price target raise
• Positive Sentiment: Needham increased its target to $360 from $300 and reiterated a buy rating, adding to the list of analysts turning more constructive on MKS. Needham price target raise

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKS stock opened at $313.21 on Friday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $249.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.60. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.62 and a 52 week high of $326.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market cap of $21.09 billion, a PE ratio of 65.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.71 EPS. 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. Equities analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 22.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 15,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. This represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total value of $7,703,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,721,291.92. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $354.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $317.23.

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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