MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $353.80, but opened at $336.12. MKS shares last traded at $346.0760, with a volume of 54,470 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MKSI. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on MKS from $400.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of MKS from $305.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. KeyCorp upped their price objective on MKS from $360.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded MKS from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $380.00.

MKS Trading Down 4.7%

The firm has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $347.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.71 earnings per share. MKS’s revenue 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, analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 3rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 20.92%.

Insider Activity

In other MKS news, EVP David Philip Henry sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.50, for a total transaction of $826,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,400,700.50. The trade was a 13.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Ramakumar Mayampurath sold 8,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.48, for a total transaction of $2,779,378.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $315.48. This trade represents a 99.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 53,949 shares of company stock worth $17,446,108 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in MKS in the fourth quarter worth about $764,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,618,000. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,965,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its stake in shares of MKS by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 15,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,764,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.