MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $423.21 and last traded at $427.00, with a volume of 4432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $416.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MKSI has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price 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. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho set a $400.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $374.07.

MKS Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $331.81 and a 200-day simple moving average of $259.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. MKS’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS’s payout ratio is 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315.48. This represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kathleen Flaherty Burke sold 4,355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.94, for a total value of $1,393,338.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 49,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,817,513.66. The trade was a 8.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in 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 buying 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 valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of MKS by 1.3% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.