MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $382.8571.

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $425.00 to $430.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of MKS from $365.00 to $380.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. This represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total value of $3,020,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,757 shares of company stock worth $3,227,146. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $260.31 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $102.14 and a fifty-two week high of $447.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $315.68 and a 200-day moving average of $295.48. The stock has a market cap of $17.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.98.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 24.72% and a net margin of 10.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that MKS will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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

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.