Comerica Bank Sells 151,279 Shares of MKS Inc. $MKSI

Comerica Bank lowered its holdings in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 79.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 39,852 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 151,279 shares during the period. Comerica Bank’s holdings in MKS were worth $6,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MKSI. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in MKS by 316.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new stake in MKS during the third quarter worth about $40,023,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in 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 worth $97,635,000 after acquiring an additional 301,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Up 6.9%

Shares of NASDAQ 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 company has a market cap of $19.10 billion, a PE ratio of 64.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.90. MKS Inc. has a 52-week low of $70.51 and a 52-week high of $294.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,163,117.49. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MKSI. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.77.

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.