MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives $130.82 Average Price Target from Analysts

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.82.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on MKS from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on MKS from $145.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on MKS from $93.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded MKS from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $110.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI traded up $0.15 during trading on Thursday, hitting $104.77. The stock had a trading volume of 569,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,054,595. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $88.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.16. The firm has a market cap of $7.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.88. MKS has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $147.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a current ratio of 3.11 and a quick ratio of 1.96.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $936.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $913.59 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 6.21%. The company's revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.18 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that MKS will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 6th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 27th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. MKS's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in MKS by 772.7% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 61,447 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $6,481,000 after purchasing an additional 54,406 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group bought a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,480,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its position in MKS by 2.2% in the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 251,799 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $20,182,000 after purchasing an additional 5,422 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $85,451,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new position in MKS in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,254,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc provides foundational technology solutions to semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications in the United States, Germany, China, South Korea, and internationally. It operates through Vacuum Solutions Division (VSD), Photonics Solutions Division (PSD), and Material Solutions Division (MSD) segments.