MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $290.00 and last traded at $292.40, with a volume of 2031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $280.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $280.77.

MKS Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71. The stock has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $196.32.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Research analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 9.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total value of $7,703,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,721,291.92. This represents a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $239.44, for a total transaction of $71,832.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 18,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,468,668.72. This trade represents a 1.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MKSI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter worth about $147,453,000. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter worth about $95,880,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in MKS by 159.7% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 516,409 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in MKS by 9,165.9% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares during the period. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in MKS by 63.4% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 878,114 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,249,000 after acquiring an additional 340,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.