MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.20.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on MKS from $118.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on MKS from $130.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, October 13th.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $650,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,571 shares in the company, valued at $2,024,230. This represents a 24.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $36,642.00. Following the sale, the director owned 11,562 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,412,182.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,600 shares of company stock valued at $716,597. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 1st quarter valued at about $789,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at about $214,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of MKS by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 18,884 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,513,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of MKS by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 110,765 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,878,000 after purchasing an additional 15,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in MKS in the 1st quarter worth about $1,257,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $137.20 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $104.24. MKS has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $147.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 2.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.77 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $973.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.05 million. MKS had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 7.11%.The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that MKS will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 24th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.34%.

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.