Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 111 Shares of Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,154 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 111 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 467,818 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $74,425,000 after buying an additional 25,654 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Keysight Technologies by 102.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 698,336 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $111,099,000 after acquiring an additional 353,768 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,128,892 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $564,626,000 after acquiring an additional 151,446 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 47,393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,411,000 after purchasing an additional 6,049 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Sarl bought a new position in Keysight Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $2,434,000. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KEYS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $167.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Vertical Research started coverage on Keysight Technologies in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Keysight Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.67.

Keysight Technologies Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE KEYS opened at $152.42 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Keysight Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $118.57 and a one year high of $162.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $144.89.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its 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. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.19 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Keysight Technologies, Inc. will post 5.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $254,592.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,960. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Keysight Technologies 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.