MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $235.95 and last traded at $235.94, with a volume of 5489 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $229.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $260.00 price target on MKS in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $231.50.

MKS Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $15.93 billion, a PE ratio of 57.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $963.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. MKS’s 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in MKS by 6.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 3,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $497,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. MAI Capital Management grew its position in MKS by 10.6% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Company Profile

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.