Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 3,060,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the February 14th total of 2,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,340,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

KEYS stock traded down $0.06 on Monday, hitting $149.74. The company had a trading volume of 897,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,517. Keysight Technologies has a 12-month low of $118.57 and a 12-month high of $172.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $154.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.61. The stock has a market cap of $26.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.80 and a beta of 1.05.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.14% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company’s revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Keysight Technologies will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In other news, Director Ronald S. Nersesian sold 29,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.82, for a total value of $4,742,179.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 296,619 shares in the company, valued at $47,405,648.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KEYS. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 14.7% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,071,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at $592,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 274,276 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,327,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,348,229 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,214,409,000 after acquiring an additional 153,857 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Keysight Technologies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $184.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet raised Keysight Technologies from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.63.

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.