Analysts Set MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) PT at $273.08

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $273.0769.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen increased their price target on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th.

MKS Stock Up 7.5%

MKSI stock opened at $256.01 on Friday. MKS has a twelve month low of $58.43 and a twelve month high of $269.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $237.61 and its 200-day moving average is $185.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.23 billion, a PE ratio of 58.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.90.

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

MKS Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at MKS

In other news, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $253.97, for a total value of $2,539,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,017 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,163,117.49. This trade represents a 19.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total value of $1,007,335.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On MKS

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in MKS by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in MKS by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 5,995 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $639,000. Kera Capital Partners Inc. bought a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $366,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $1,166,000. 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.