MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $273.0769.

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKSI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of MKS from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

MKS Price Performance

Shares of MKSI opened at $234.66 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $236.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.65. The firm has a market cap of $15.80 billion, a PE ratio of 53.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. MKS has a 1-year low of $54.84 and a 1-year high of $269.91.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. MKS had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 7.53%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that MKS will post 6.94 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. 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. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 22.88%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,405,931.40. This trade represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 340 shares of MKS 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 transaction, the director owned 10,393 shares in the company, valued at $2,221,711.61. This trade represents a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders 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 currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in MKS by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 530 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of MKS by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $693,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of MKS by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 898 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 15,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.