MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $421.58 and last traded at $420.56, with a volume of 1542021 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $406.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $354.00 to $374.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Two equities 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

MKS Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $313.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $247.68. The stock has a market cap of $28.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.98, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in MKS by 30.8% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $156,602,000 after purchasing an additional 297,850 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of MKS by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $200,438,000 after buying an additional 5,551 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 44.2% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,453,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is 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.