MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Fifteen analysts give MKS Inc. a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy (11 buys, 1 strong buy, 2 holds, 1 sell) with an average one-year price target of about $280.77, and several firms recently raised targets (Needham to $300, Mizuho to $320).
• Insiders have been net sellers: CEO John Tseng‑Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares for roughly $7.7M and insiders have sold 68,503 shares worth about $17.29M over the past 90 days, leaving insiders owning about 0.57% of the company.
• In the latest quarter MKS missed EPS slightly at $2.47 vs. $2.51 consensus while revenue rose 10.5% YoY to $1.03B (above estimates); the company set Q1 2026 EPS guidance of 1.720–2.280 and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.25 (annualized $1.00, 0.4% yield).

Shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $280.7692.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MKSI. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen lowered MKS from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 3rd. Bank of America raised their price target on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $320.00 price target on MKS in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on MKS from $135.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total value of $7,703,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares of the company's stock, valued at $39,721,291.92. The trade was a 16.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP John Edward Williams sold 2,043 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.41, for a total transaction of $523,845.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 3,640 shares of the company's stock, valued at $933,332.40. This trade represents a 35.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock worth $17,288,099 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MKSI. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in MKS by 3.6% in the first 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 valued at $21,434,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in MKS by 63.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 838 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in MKS by 3,545.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 141,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $14,036,000 after acquiring an additional 137,392 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC acquired a new position in MKS in the second quarter valued at about $1,676,000. Finally, AXA S.A. grew its stake in MKS by 22.8% in the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 29,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,907,000 after acquiring an additional 5,430 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

MKS Stock Down 3.8%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $267.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.77 and a 200-day moving average of $200.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.90. MKS has a 52 week low of $67.87 and a 52 week high of $294.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.71.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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 forecast that MKS will post 9.85 EPS for the current year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from MKS's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. MKS's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.88%.

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.

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