MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

by · The Cerbat Gem

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI – Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 target price on MKS and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $171.10.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MKS

MKS Stock Up 4.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $176.19 on Friday. MKS has a 52-week low of $54.84 and a 52-week high of $176.37. The stock has a market cap of $11.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of $154.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $126.93. 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 – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $963.87 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that MKS will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

Insider Activity at MKS

In related news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.51% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the second quarter worth about $85,391,000. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. lifted its stake in MKS by 843.4% in the second quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 690,287 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,587,000 after acquiring an additional 617,113 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in MKS by 146.4% in the second quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 912,380 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $90,654,000 after acquiring an additional 542,094 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 9,165.9% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 446,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $55,232,000 after acquiring an additional 441,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Channing Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of MKS by 79.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

About MKS

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also