Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 239,720 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,241 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $38,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $621,993,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 352.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,160,879 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $494,299,000 after buying an additional 2,462,543 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $250,097,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $175,979,000. Finally, Saturna Capital Corp raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 72.0% during the 1st quarter. Saturna Capital Corp now owns 860,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,487,000 after acquiring an additional 360,000 shares in the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $254,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,960. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of KEYS opened at $163.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a current ratio of 2.05. Keysight Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $119.72 and a 1 year high of $166.28. The company’s fifty day moving average is $154.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.70.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.22. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Keysight Technologies, Inc. will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEYS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised Keysight Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $158.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $167.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.89.

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to commercial communications, networking, aerospace, defense and government, automotive, energy, semiconductor, electronic, and education industries in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Communications Solutions Group and Electronic Industrial Solutions Group.