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

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $375.93.

Several research firms have weighed in on MKSI. Mizuho cut their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on MKS in a research report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,703,699.76. This trade represents a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in MKS in the second quarter worth $231,673,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,254,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $200,438,000 after acquiring an additional 5,551 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $147,453,000. Madison Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth about $140,866,000. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its position in shares of MKS by 159.7% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 839,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,196,000 after purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MKSI opened at $265.36 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. MKS has a 12 month low of $120.91 and a 12 month high of $447.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 42.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.98. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $277.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.87.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.77 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities analysts expect that MKS will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

MKS Company Profile

MKS Instruments, Inc develops technologies used to measure, control and analyze the processes involved in manufacturing semiconductors, electronics, specialty materials and other industrial products. The company serves original equipment manufacturers and production facilities worldwide, with solutions spanning vacuum control, pressure measurement, gas and fluid delivery, process monitoring and control.

Its product portfolio includes vacuum gauges and valves, mass flow controllers, gas and vapor delivery systems, pressure controllers, plasma-generation and power-delivery systems, analytical instruments, lasers and photonics equipment.