MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock Now Rated "Moderate Buy" by Wall Street Analysts

Key Points

• Wall Street consensus is “Moderate Buy”: Thirteen of 16 analysts rate MKS a buy, with one strong-buy, one hold and one sell rating. The average 12-month price target is $375.93.
• MKS exceeded quarterly expectations: The company reported $3.30 in EPS versus the $2.91 estimate and revenue of $1.25 billion, up 28.3% year over year.
• The company maintains a modest dividend: MKS pays a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equivalent to a $1.00 annual payout and a 0.4% yield.

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $375.93.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MKSI. Wall Street Zen raised MKS from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Bank of America lifted their target price on MKS from $380.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 target price on MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $453.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th.

MKS Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $260.82 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $281.50 and a 200-day moving average of $296.43. The company has a market cap of $17.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.60, a PEG ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.98. 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 1-year low of $120.11 and a 1-year high of $447.62.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.77 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS will post 13.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 134,776 shares in the company, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 18,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% 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 have sold a total of 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in MKS by 0.4% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter worth $147,453,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 516,409 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of MKS by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 522,415 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $83,482,000 after purchasing an additional 41,247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the second quarter worth $231,673,000. Institutional investors own 99.79% of the company's stock.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc NASDAQ: MKSI provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.