Short Interest in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Rises By 5.1%

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,460,000 shares, a growth of 5.1% from the July 31st total of 2,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $254,592.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,576,960. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $254,592.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,960. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Lisa M. Poole sold 440 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.45, for a total value of $60,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,913 shares in the company, valued at $533,928.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEYS. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Keysight Technologies during the 1st quarter worth about $621,993,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake 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 valued at $494,299,000 after buying an additional 2,462,543 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at about $303,444,000. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at about $250,097,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 53.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,811,605 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $596,059,000 after buying an additional 1,323,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEYS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $141.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Keysight Technologies from $167.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Keysight Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.09.

Keysight Technologies Stock Up 0.9 %

Keysight Technologies stock opened at $154.12 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.58, a PEG ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 0.95. Keysight Technologies has a 1-year low of $118.57 and a 1-year high of $162.51. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $138.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.18.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.22. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.24%. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Keysight Technologies Company Profile

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.