BMO Capital Markets Upgrades MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) to Strong-Buy

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $374.07.

MKS Trading Up 7.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $445.50 on Tuesday. MKS has a 1 year low of $88.49 and a 1 year high of $447.62. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $329.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $257.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $30.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.20, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) 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, 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 business 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 business earned $1.71 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that MKS will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Joseph B. Donahue sold 2,100 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 10,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,290,322.35. This trade represents a 17.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in MKS during the 4th quarter valued at about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its stake in MKS by 159.7% in the fourth quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 63.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after purchasing an additional 340,645 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.