MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $380.00 to $500.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. MKS traded as high as $421.58 and last traded at $420.56, with a volume of 1542021 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $406.37.

Several other analysts have also commented on MKSI. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of MKS stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total value of $767,269.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $3,154,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,648,694.08. This trade represents a 6.46% 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 sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of MKS by 560.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $317.81 and a 200-day moving average of $250.81. 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 firm has a market cap of $25.77 billion, a PE ratio of 79.84, a PEG ratio of 1.39 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. 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.