MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $281.77 and last traded at $278.4910, with a volume of 70860 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $269.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.08.

MKS Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $242.19 and its 200-day moving average is $191.18. The firm has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.90.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 340 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.77, for a total value of $72,681.80. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,221,711.61. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of MKS stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. This trade represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 in the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management raised its holdings in MKS by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 6,853 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,575,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 477.0% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 110,343 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,358,000 after acquiring an additional 91,219 shares during the period. Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter worth $214,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter worth $385,000. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in MKS by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. 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.