MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• MKS hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $343.29 and closing near $341.13, after rising about 9.4% on the day.
• Recent analyst updates were broadly bullish, with multiple firms raising price targets and maintaining buy/overweight ratings; the consensus view is a Moderate Buy with a $324.92 target.
• The company posted solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share alongside upbeat Q2 guidance.

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $343.29 and last traded at $341.1250, with a volume of 517055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $316.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on MKS from $290.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Friday, May 8th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $324.92.

MKS Stock Up 9.4%

The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $290.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a PE ratio of 72.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.99.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that MKS Inc. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 3rd. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.92%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.40, for a total transaction of $6,668,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,673,667.80. This represents a 49.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total value of $826,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,400,700.50. This represents a 13.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 53,949 shares of company stock valued at $17,446,108 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in MKS by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $959,477,000 after purchasing an additional 295,480 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $156,602,000 after acquiring an additional 297,850 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in MKS by 0.4% during 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. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in MKS by 44.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 982,643 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $97,635,000 after acquiring an additional 301,223 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in MKS during the 4th quarter worth approximately $147,453,000. Institutional investors 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.

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