Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock Price

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Citigroup from $295.00 to $290.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective points to a potential upside of 27.68% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MKSI. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $273.08.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $227.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $231.43 and a 200-day moving average of $174.60. MKS has a 12 month low of $54.84 and a 12 month high of $269.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a PE ratio of 51.97, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.94.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In related news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at $39,721,291.92. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Gerald G. Colella sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $10,163,117.49. The trade was a 19.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 over the last three months. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of MKS by 43.4% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 295,963 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,631,000 after acquiring an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of MKS by 13.1% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in MKS by 553.5% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 7,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $912,000 after purchasing an additional 6,243 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC increased its holdings in MKS by 2.3% in the third quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 304,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,729,000 after purchasing an additional 6,725 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.