MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.07.

MKS Stock Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $445.50 on Tuesday. MKS has a one year low of $88.49 and a one year high of $447.62. The company has a market cap of $30.09 billion, a PE ratio of 93.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $329.19 and a 200-day moving average of $257.85. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that MKS will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.2%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. This trade represents a 13.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, 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. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in MKS by 30.8% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 0.4% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,551 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 purchasing an additional 301,223 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter worth $147,453,000. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 63.4% in 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 buying an additional 340,645 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.