MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $343.29 and last traded at $341.1250, with a volume of 517055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $316.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MKSI shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Mizuho set a $400.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.92.

MKS Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 72.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $234.83. 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 results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Research analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. The trade was a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $2,779,378.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $315.48. The trade was a 99.99% 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. Insiders sold a total of 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 560.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in MKS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in MKS by 55.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. 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.