Needham & Company LLC Boosts MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Price Target to $300.00

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) had its price target increased by Needham & Company LLC from $260.00 to $300.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.71% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho set a $260.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on MKS from $175.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, MKS currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $273.46.

MKS Stock Performance

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $259.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $204.86 and a 200-day moving average of $155.92. MKS has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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.

Institutional Trading of MKS

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 89,502 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the third quarter worth about $1,020,000. Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,846 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of MKS by 50.2% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 2,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,681,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

MKS News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue beat and segment strength — MKS reported $1.03B in Q4 revenue (+10% YoY) with Electronics & Packaging up ~19%, showing demand strength in key end markets that supports higher earnings power. MKS Inc. (MKSI) Reports $1.03B Q4 2025 Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target to $305 and keeps an overweight rating — a bullish analyst move that likely boosted investor confidence and helped lift the stock. JPMorgan raises MKSI price target
• Positive Sentiment: Needham increased its target to $300 and maintains a buy rating — another bullish signal adding upward pressure. Needham raises MKSI price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its target to $255 but kept an equal‑weight rating — a modestly constructive update, though its PT sits near the stock price and signals limited upside. Wells Fargo raises MKSI price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Full earnings call transcript is available for detail seekers — useful for judging management tone on orders, backlog and guidance. MKS Q4 2025 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Small EPS miss — Q4 EPS $2.47 vs. consensus $2.51 (miss by $0.04). The slight miss tempered the rally and left some investors wanting a larger beat.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed/contrarian analyst views: Goldman Sachs raised its price target (to $200) but maintains a sell rating, signaling that some firms still see meaningful downside — this contributes to mixed market reaction. Goldman raises PT but keeps sell rating
• Negative Sentiment: Investor disappointment / short‑term selling pressure — stories about the stock gapping down and falling after the print reflect that some traders sought a larger beat, creating intraday swings despite underlying revenue strength. MKS shares gap down following weak earnings MKS stock falls; investors wanted larger beat

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.