Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Shares Sold by Saturna Capital Corp

Saturna Capital Corp lessened its position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 856,383 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 11,382 shares during the quarter. Keysight Technologies comprises 1.9% of Saturna Capital Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Saturna Capital Corp owned 0.50% of Keysight Technologies worth $128,260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEYS. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 13,385 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,150,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 5,722 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $919,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 23,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,711,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 9,906 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,591,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 27,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,398,000 after purchasing an additional 3,676 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satish Dhanasekaran sold 658 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $103,819.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 115,576 shares in the company, valued at $18,235,581.28. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Ingrid A. Estrada sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.97, for a total value of $1,589,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 108,590 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,262,552.30. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,830 shares of company stock worth $5,124,049. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of KEYS stock opened at $163.09 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.83. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a 12-month low of $119.72 and a 12-month high of $186.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 14.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEYS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Keysight Technologies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.56.

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.