MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock Has Average Target Price of $375.93

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $375.93.

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of MKS from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price target for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. 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, EVP John Williams sold 457 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.31, for a total transaction of $131,757.67. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,181,494.38. This represents a 10.03% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,121 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter valued at $264,000. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $228,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in MKS by 35.7% during the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,961 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 44,846 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,948,000 after purchasing an additional 13,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MKS stock opened at $258.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.21, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS has a 12-month low of $120.91 and a 12-month high of $447.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $280.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.21.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that MKS will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 15.95%.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.