MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives $280.77 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $280.7692.

A number of research firms have recently commented on MKSI. Mizuho set a $320.00 price objective on MKS in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th.

MKS Stock Performance

MKSI stock opened at $279.38 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $18.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.93, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.98. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.28. MKS has a 52 week low of $71.49 and a 52 week high of $294.05.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that MKS will post 9.89 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 22.88%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. This represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 340 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 10,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,221,711.61. This represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 in the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in MKS by 3,011.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 19,294 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,434,000 after buying an additional 18,674 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter valued at about $319,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its position in MKS by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 13,766 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,164,000 after buying an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter valued at about $200,000. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in MKS in the 1st quarter valued at about $287,000. 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.