MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $271.97 and last traded at $270.3970, with a volume of 127809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKSI has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.08.

MKS Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market cap of $18.09 billion, a PE ratio of 61.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 1.90. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.50.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $1,007,335.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total transaction of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,163,117.49. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in MKS by 43.4% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,631,000 after buying an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth $1,020,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in MKS by 553.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $912,000 after buying an additional 6,243 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC grew its position in MKS by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $37,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Omaha purchased a new stake in MKS during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,668,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS Company Profile

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.