MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Price Target Cut to $300.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) had its price target decreased by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $390.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC‘s price target points to a potential upside of 69.66% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on MKSI. Citigroup raised their target price on MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $368.43.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI stock traded down $18.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $176.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,478,064 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,387,476. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a PE ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 2.14. The business has a fifty day moving average of $243.61 and a 200-day moving average of $277.24. MKS has a 52 week low of $134.74 and a 52 week high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.55. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.93 earnings per share. MKS’s quarterly revenue was up 43.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that MKS will post 13.14 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, November 4th that permits the company to repurchase $500 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the scientific and technical instruments company to purchase up to 3.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other MKS news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at $4,729,341.20. This represents a 1.57% 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 own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in MKS by 2.0% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 3,505 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $930,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. M&G PLC bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $15,576,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 1,745.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 14,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after purchasing an additional 13,839 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 69.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,092,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.18 topped the roughly $3.63 analyst estimate, while revenue of $1.41 billion beat expectations of about $1.36 billion and grew 43% year over year. Reports cited strong semiconductor demand, including AI-related demand, and record adjusted EBITDA. MKS third-quarter financial results
• Positive Sentiment: The company forecast fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $4.62–$5.38, above its third-quarter result at the midpoint, supporting expectations for continued earnings growth. MKS fourth-quarter EPS outlook
• Positive Sentiment: MKS authorized a $500 million share-repurchase program, potentially buying back up to 3.6% of its shares. The board also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share. Buybacks can support per-share results and signal confidence, though neither guarantees a share-price gain. MKS buyback and dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: The supplied coverage contains no clear company-specific negative development to explain the share weakness; trading may reflect factors outside the news summarized here.

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) develops technologies that enable precision control and measurement in manufacturing and research environments. The company provides instruments, components, systems and process-control solutions used to measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas delivery, temperature and other critical production conditions.

Its product portfolio includes vacuum solutions, pressure and flow-control instruments, gas and vapor delivery systems, plasma and reactive-gas technologies, power delivery systems, process-monitoring equipment, analytical instruments and materials-characterization tools.