MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Given New $360.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham raised its price target on MKS from $300 to $360 and kept a "buy" rating (implying ~19% upside); the stock's analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $285.38.
• Q1 results beat expectations — EPS $2.30 vs. $2.00 and revenue $1.08B (+15.2% YoY) — and the company raised Q2 guidance to $2.60–$3.20 EPS with revenue near $1.2B.
• Significant insider selling occurred recently (68,503 shares worth about $17.3M over three months), leaving insiders with 0.57% ownership and potentially tempering investor enthusiasm.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $300.00 to $360.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.24% from the company's previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of MKS in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, MKS presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $285.38.

MKS Price Performance

NASDAQ:MKSI traded up $8.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $301.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,713,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,406,348. MKS has a 52-week low of $73.21 and a 52-week high of $326.84. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $248.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $204.44. The company has a market capitalization of $20.33 billion, a PE ratio of 68.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.600-3.200 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that MKS will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MKS

In other news, Director Jacqueline F. Moloney sold 340 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.77, for a total transaction of $72,681.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 10,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,221,711.61. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,405,931.40. The trade was a 22.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MKS

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of MKS by 1.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,274 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in MKS by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 390 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 lifted its position in 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. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.79% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results beat expectations — EPS $2.30 vs. $2.00 estimate; revenue $1.08B vs. $1.05B estimate and revenue +15.2% YoY, indicating stronger demand and margin expansion. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Company raised Q2 2026 EPS guidance to $2.60–$3.20 (consensus ~$2.37) and guided revenue near $1.2B (above estimates), giving investors confidence in near-term growth and analyst revisions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Press materials, slide deck and conference call are available — useful for conviction-building and modeling, with details on segment performance and margin assumptions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage and metric breakdowns (Zacks coverage) summarize beats and compare key metrics to estimates and prior-year results — helpful for modeling but largely reiterative of the beats. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling was reported recently, which can raise governance or near-term supply concerns and may temper enthusiasm despite the beat. Read More.

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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