MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $379.99 and last traded at $366.31, with a volume of 1089299 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $375.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MKSI shares. Mizuho set a $400.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

MKS Stock Down 2.4%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $301.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.80. The firm has a market cap of $24.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. MKS’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In related news, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total transaction of $1,393,338.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,817,513.66. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares in the company, valued at $315.48. The trade was a 99.99% 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. Insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 over the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MKS by 10.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in MKS in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,062,000. Front Row Advisors LLC lifted its stake in MKS by 2.5% in the first quarter. Front Row Advisors LLC now owns 8,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in MKS in the first quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Finally, Anson Funds Management LP bought a new position in MKS in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,792,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.