MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $300.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MKS traded as high as $212.16 and last traded at $210.42, with a volume of 414146 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $203.99.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 price target on MKS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. purchased a new stake in MKS in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in MKS in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.86. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.20, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.92.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.87 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.36%.

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.