MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $296.22 and last traded at $293.3340, with a volume of 2341 shares. The stock had previously closed at $291.53.

Trending Headlines about MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — EPS $2.30 vs. $2.00 consensus and revenue $1.08B (up ~15% YoY); management highlighted strength across semiconductor/AI-related demand. MKS Inc Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised Q2 2026 guidance — EPS $2.60–$3.20 vs. street ~$2.37 and revenue guidance roughly $1.2B vs. ~$1.1B consensus, signaling confidence in continued demand and margin expansion. Press Release / Slide Deck
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price-target increase — Needham raised its price target from $300 to $360 and reiterated a “buy” rating, adding analyst momentum and supporting upside expectations. Benzinga
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings-call/transcript and analyst write-ups are available for deeper read-through of drivers and margin commentary — useful for verifying whether AI/semiconductor strength is sustainable. MKS Inc. Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Detailed metric analysis from Zacks compares key Q1 metrics to estimates and prior year results — helpful for modeling margin progression and fiscal-year EPS. Zacks: Compared to Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling has been reported amid the rally — a potential red flag for some investors and a factor to monitor for timing and size of sales. Yahoo Finance: Why MKS Insiders Are Selling

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.54.

MKS Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $248.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $204.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.88%.

Insider Activity

In other MKS news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at $10,163,117.49. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,721,291.92. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. USA Financial Formulas bought a new position in MKS during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 74.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth about $37,000. 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.