MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Given New $255.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) had its price target lifted by Wells Fargo & Company from $210.00 to $255.00 in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on MKS from $185.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Benchmark increased their price objective on MKS from $135.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of MKS from $265.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $273.46.

MKS Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MKSI opened at $249.08 on Thursday. MKS has a fifty-two week low of $54.84 and a fifty-two week high of $269.91. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.77. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.00, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.95.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.04). MKS had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 20.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.15 EPS. MKS’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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that MKS will post 6.94 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from MKS’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. MKS’s payout ratio is 21.36%.

Insider Transactions at MKS

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of MKS 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 transaction, the director owned 18,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MKSI. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in MKS by 2,170.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 133,036 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,259,000 after buying an additional 127,176 shares during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of MKS by 48.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 10,968 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,753,000 after acquiring an additional 3,555 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter valued at $701,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of MKS during the fourth quarter valued at $674,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in MKS during the 4th quarter worth about $425,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More MKS News

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue growth: MKS reported Q4 2025 revenue of about $1.03B, up ~10% YoY, driven by a 19% increase in the Electronics & Packaging segment — evidence of continued end?market demand. MKS Inc. Reports $1.03B Q4 Revenue
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts lifting targets and upbeat coverage: Several firms raised price targets (Needham to $300 buy; JPMorgan to $305 overweight; Wells Fargo to $255 equal weight), signaling continued analyst conviction on longer?term growth despite short?term noise. Needham price target raise
• Neutral Sentiment: 52?week high and subsequent pullback: The stock briefly hit a new 52?week high after the results, which can provoke “sell?the?news” profit taking independent of fundamentals. MKS Sets New 52-Week High
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings materials available: Investors and models are digesting the full earnings call transcript and presentation for color on guidance assumptions and margin drivers. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: EPS miss and margin pressure: Non?GAAP EPS came in at $2.47 vs. consensus ~$2.51 (small miss) and commentary flagged margin pressure and weaker cash flow, which pushed some traders to sell into the print. Zacks: Earnings Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Tariff and margin caveats in guidance: Management included the impact of U.S. import tariffs and potential retaliatory actions in Q1 guidance, and guided gross margin around ~46%—the tariff uncertainty is being priced as a margin risk. QuiverQuant: Tariff caveats
• Negative Sentiment: Investor expectations and insider sales: Commentary noted investors were looking for a larger beat; recent insider sales and some institutional rebalancing add to near?term selling pressure. MSN: 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.