MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $343.29 and last traded at $341.1250, with a volume of 517055 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $316.07.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, MKS has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.92.

MKS Trading Up 3.0%

The business has a 50 day moving average of $295.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.99.

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. Equities 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 directly owned 20,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total value of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 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 worth $17,446,108 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,618,000. First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,668,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $764,000. Blue Grotto Capital LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 13.2% during the third quarter. Blue Grotto Capital LLC now owns 211,848 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,220,000 after acquiring an additional 24,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,764,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.