MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $257.61, but opened at $288.80. MKS shares last traded at $290.0840, with a volume of 485,362 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on MKS from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $453.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on MKS from $374.00 to $442.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $385.00.

MKS Stock Up 12.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $350.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $284.34. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a PE ratio of 60.45, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.93.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.71 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. On average, analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Michelle M. Mccarthy sold 2,434 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.23, for a total transaction of $767,269.82. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 2 shares in the company, valued at $630.46. This trade represents a 99.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total value of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at $6,673,667.80. This trade represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in MKS by 47.5% during the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its stake in shares of MKS by 19.5% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,857 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 629 shares in the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 23,048 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,252,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. purchased a new position in MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $427,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.