MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $368.06, but opened at $342.86. MKS shares last traded at $342.2910, with a volume of 276,382 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MKSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $378.93.

MKS Stock Down 6.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.16 billion, a PE ratio of 71.86, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.93. The business has a 50 day moving average of $337.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. MKS had a return on equity of 21.49% and a net margin of 8.06%.The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 20.92%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’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 value 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 $45,648,694.08. This trade represents a 6.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the firm’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 $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315.48. This trade represents a 99.99% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in MKS during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in MKS in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 55.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Company Profile

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.