MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Down 7.5% – What’s Next?

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI)’s share price was down 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $244.17 and last traded at $247.1930. Approximately 110,837 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 1,380,603 shares. The stock had previously closed at $267.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MKSI shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $360.00 price objective on MKS in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on MKS from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of MKS from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $382.86.

MKS Trading Down 9.3%

The stock has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. MKS had a net margin of 10.15% and a return on equity of 24.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.77 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.270-3.890 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 25th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 25th. MKS’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $302.01, for a total transaction of $3,020,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 134,776 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,703,699.76. The trade was a 6.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.96, for a total value of $75,288.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,845 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,729,341.20. The trade was a 1.57% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,757 shares of company stock valued at $3,227,146. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Spyglass Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,720,000. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new stake in MKS during the first quarter worth approximately $1,329,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in MKS by 3,011.9% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after purchasing an additional 18,674 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,512,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of MKS by 7.8% in the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 123,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,333,000 after purchasing an additional 8,904 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MKS

MKS Instruments, Inc (NASDAQ: MKSI) provides instruments, systems and process-control solutions used by manufacturers and research organizations. Its technologies help measure and control pressure, flow, vacuum, gas composition, temperature and other conditions involved in advanced manufacturing and laboratory processes.

The company offers vacuum components and systems, gas and vapor delivery equipment, pressure and flow controllers, process-monitoring instruments, analytical solutions, RF and microwave power systems, plasma-generation technologies, and materials-processing equipment.