MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $187.55 and last traded at $187.64, with a volume of 30813 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $186.08.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKSI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 price target on MKS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $151.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.10.

MKS Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $157.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.87 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Equities analysts predict that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in MKS by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $959,477,000 after acquiring an additional 295,480 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its position in MKS by 7.7% during the third quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,321,877 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $163,609,000 after purchasing an additional 94,692 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of MKS by 30.8% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,265,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $156,602,000 after purchasing an additional 297,850 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 2.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,258,108 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $125,025,000 after purchasing an additional 35,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of MKS by 79.3% in the second quarter. Channing Capital Management LLC now owns 991,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $98,495,000 after purchasing an additional 438,338 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.