MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $324.28, but opened at $347.28. MKS shares last traded at $335.2550, with a volume of 94,657 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their price objective on MKS from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned 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, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $380.00.

MKS Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 71.81, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $348.94 and its 200 day moving average is $277.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, equities research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,700.50. This trade represents a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 47.5% during the 2nd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in MKS by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,857 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 2.8% during the second quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 23,048 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,252,000 after acquiring an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. bought a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at about $427,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.