MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) shares hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $300.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. MKS traded as high as $212.16 and last traded at $210.42, with a volume of 414146 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $203.99.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MKS from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 price target on MKS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.27.

Insider Activity

In other 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 value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,434,000 after buying an additional 9,170 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in MKS by 63.9% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new position in MKS during the second quarter worth approximately $991,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in MKS by 55.8% during the second quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 975 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of MKS by 112.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.83 billion, a PE ratio of 53.58, a PEG ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $166.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $134.80.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $963.87 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 7.25%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

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