MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives $231.50 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $231.50.

MKSI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark raised their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $180.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its position in MKS by 43.4% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,631,000 after acquiring an additional 89,502 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its stake in MKS by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in MKS by 50.2% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new stake in MKS in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,681,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Up 4.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $260.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.94. MKS has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $266.08. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $195.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $151.07.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 23rd. This is a positive change from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 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.