Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $160.63.

KEYS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TheStreet upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Keysight Technologies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.88, for a total transaction of $657,384.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,156 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,457,369.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Keysight Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,164,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 54,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,694,000 after acquiring an additional 3,664 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 149.2% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 40,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,364,000 after acquiring an additional 23,947 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV bought a new position in Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $312,000. Finally, Brown Shipley& Co Ltd boosted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 6,452 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,026,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

Keysight Technologies Stock Up 0.3 %

KEYS stock opened at $156.29 on Friday. Keysight Technologies has a 52 week low of $118.57 and a 52 week high of $172.72. The company has a market capitalization of $27.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.98 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $154.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.14% and a return on equity of 26.84%. Keysight Technologies’s revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.