MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.55 EPS

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $4.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.63 by $0.55, FiscalAI reports. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 43.0% on a year-over-year basis.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI traded down $10.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $194.95. 2,497,938 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,376,911. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $13.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 2.14. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $243.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.24. MKS has a 1 year low of $134.74 and a 1 year high of $447.62.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MKSI. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of MKS from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Mizuho lowered their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $374.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total transaction of $75,288.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,845 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About MKS

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.