Bailard Inc. Makes New Investment in MKS Inc. $MKSI

Bailard Inc. acquired a new stake in MKS Inc. (NASDAQ:MKSI) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,310 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $286,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MKSI. DAVENPORT & Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of MKS during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in MKS by 13.1% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 58,933 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,856,000 after purchasing an additional 6,846 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of MKS by 59.2% in the second quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 10,677 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of MKS by 50.2% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,897 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,974 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of MKS in the second quarter valued at about $1,681,000. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting MKS

Here are the key news stories impacting MKS this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages raised price targets, signaling stronger analyst conviction — TD Cowen bumped its target to $230. MKS Inc. price target raised to $230 from $200 at TD Cowen
• Positive Sentiment: Large upward revisions from other firms increased bullish interest (Needham to $260, Bank of America to $255, Morgan Stanley to $258, Cantor Fitzgerald to $300), suggesting analysts see meaningful upside vs. earlier levels. Analyst price target coverage (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: MKS raised its Q4 guidance ahead of earnings (Needham also raised its target after the guidance update), which supports expectations for continued revenue/EPS strength. MKS increases Q4 guidance ahead of earnings; Needham hikes price target
• Positive Sentiment: Equity research pieces highlight MKS’s momentum and strong earnings-surprise track record, which can support further upside if the company sustains beat-and-raise results. Will MKS (MKSI) Beat Estimates Again?
• Neutral Sentiment: Not all upgrades are uniformly bullish: Wells Fargo raised its target to $210 but kept an “equal weight” rating, implying limited near-term upside from its view. Wells Fargo price target note
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target dispersion and a premium valuation (market commentary points to a high P/E) create short-term volatility; despite bullish reports, these mixed signals likely contributed to profit-taking and the intraday pullback.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of MKS from $92.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of MKS in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upped their target price on MKS from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price target on MKS from $122.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on MKS from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.75.

MKS Stock Down 2.7%

MKSI stock opened at $217.06 on Friday. MKS Inc. has a 52 week low of $54.84 and a 52 week high of $233.11. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $136.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a market cap of $14.58 billion, a PE ratio of 52.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.92.

MKS (NASDAQ:MKSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.80 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $988.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $963.87 million. MKS had a net margin of 7.25% and a return on equity of 20.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. MKS has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.930-2.610 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that MKS Inc. will post 6.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

MKS Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. MKS’s payout ratio is currently 21.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other MKS news, Director Elizabeth Mora sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.81, for a total value of $47,643.00. Following the sale, the director owned 18,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,011,514.03. This trade represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MKS 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.