MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $150.00 to $175.00. The stock had previously closed at $190.30, but opened at $205.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. MKS shares last traded at $208.17, with a volume of 130,118 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Mizuho set a $215.00 target price on MKS in a report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $151.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Monday, October 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, MKS presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of MKS by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 267,421 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in MKS by 63.9% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in MKS by 265.5% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 837 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital purchased a new stake in MKS in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $280,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $991,000. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Trading Up 7.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.79 billion, a PE ratio of 49.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.92. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $161.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. MKS had a return on equity of 20.80% and a net margin of 7.25%.The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $963.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Analysts expect that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 21.36%.

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.