MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $379.99 and last traded at $366.31, with a volume of 1089299 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $375.32.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MKSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.92.

MKS Stock Up 9.5%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $307.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $244.09. The company has a market capitalization of $27.45 billion, a PE ratio of 85.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued 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 is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This represents a 99.92% 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 have sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in MKS by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of MKS by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in MKS by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.