Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by ($0.20), Zacks reports. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 15.71%.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

Shares of KEYS stock traded up $1.47 during trading on Monday, hitting $245.01. The company had a trading volume of 2,683,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,085. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.20. Keysight Technologies has a one year low of $121.43 and a one year high of $248.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $216.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.22.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEYS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $243.00 target price on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on Keysight Technologies from $215.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $230.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Keysight Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $224.09.

Keysight Technologies declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, November 24th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the scientific and technical instruments company to repurchase up to 4.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satish Dhanasekaran sold 4,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $211.43, for a total transaction of $894,348.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 128,131 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,090,737.33. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jeffrey K. Li sold 3,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.84, for a total value of $790,104.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 36,699 shares in the company, valued at $7,370,627.16. The trade was a 9.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 78,784 shares of company stock worth $15,841,737. 0.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Keysight Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 92.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 27,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 13,085 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 5.0% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,652 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,595,000 after acquiring an additional 2,461 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 66.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the second quarter worth about $254,000. Institutional investors own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

Keysight Technologies Company Profile

Keysight Technologies is a global provider of electronic design, test, measurement and optimization solutions for communications, electronics and related industries. The company was formed as a corporate spin-off from Agilent Technologies in 2014; its origins trace back to the electronic measurement business that was part of Hewlett‑Packard before Agilent. Keysight develops hardware and software used throughout the product development lifecycle, from design and simulation to prototype validation and manufacturing test.

Keysight’s product portfolio includes electronic test and measurement instruments such as oscilloscopes, network and spectrum analyzers, signal generators, vector network analyzers and modular PXI-based systems, together with software platforms for simulation, automated test and data analysis.