Brokerages Set MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Target Price at $171.10

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $171.10.

MKSI has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $151.00 target price on shares of MKS in a report on Monday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $175.00 price target on MKS and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on MKS from $136.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th.

MKS Stock Up 0.5%

MKSI opened at $164.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.03 billion, a PE ratio of 39.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.81. MKS has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $170.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $151.75 and a 200-day moving average of $123.65.

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

MKS Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 24th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. MKS’s payout ratio is presently 21.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,011,514.03. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $36,642.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,562 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,412,182.68. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of MKS

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in MKS in the first quarter valued at $1,257,000. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in MKS by 59.2% during the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,677 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 3,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of MKS by 63.9% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 952 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company’s stock.

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.