Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) Stock Price
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemMKS (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $255.00 to $300.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 7.08% from the company’s previous close.
Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho set a $320.00 target price on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of MKS from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of MKS from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of MKS in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $354.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a research note on Thursday. One investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $307.62.
View Our Latest Stock Report on MKS
MKS Price Performance
NASDAQ:MKSI traded up $22.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $322.84. 587,752 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,403,549. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $249.12 and its 200-day moving average is $205.60. The firm has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 67.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 1.98. MKS has a twelve month low of $78.62 and a twelve month high of $326.83.
MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.30. MKS had a net margin of 8.06% and a return on equity of 21.88%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.71 earnings per share. The company’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. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS will post 9.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Activity at MKS
In other news, CEO John Tseng-Chung Lee sold 30,000 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.77, for a total transaction of $7,703,100.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 154,696 shares in the company, valued at $39,721,291.92. This trade represents a 16.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Robert Taranto sold 4,568 shares of MKS stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.52, for a total transaction of $1,007,335.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 15,445 shares in the company, valued at $3,405,931.40. This represents a 22.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 68,503 shares of company stock valued at $17,288,099 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of MKS
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of MKS in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 560.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 165 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of MKS by 616.7% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 172 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of MKS by 74.5% in the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 260 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in MKS in the third quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.