Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Position in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,752,097 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 295,480 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.54% of MKS worth $959,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC acquired a new stake in MKS during the third quarter valued at $224,000. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of MKS by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 23,469 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,905,000 after acquiring an additional 693 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the 3rd quarter valued at about $65,000. Leuthold Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of MKS in the 3rd quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Profund Advisors LLC raised its holdings in MKS by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 4,856 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $601,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. 99.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

MKS News Roundup

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MKSI. Zacks Research raised MKS from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of MKS in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of MKS from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $273.46.

MKS Stock Up 4.1%

NASDAQ MKSI opened at $259.27 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $204.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $156.37. MKS Inc. has a one year low of $54.84 and a one year high of $269.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 2.71. The company has a market cap of $17.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.95.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.15 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. MKS has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.720-2.280 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 23rd will be paid 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 is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s dividend payout ratio is 20.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total transaction of $47,643.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.