StockNews.com Upgrades Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on KEYS. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Keysight Technologies in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $175.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Barclays upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $158.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $167.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.89.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

Keysight Technologies stock opened at $151.42 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $155.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 2.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.36 and a beta of 0.98. Keysight Technologies has a twelve month low of $119.72 and a twelve month high of $166.28.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.35 by $0.22. The firm 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 business’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $254,592.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 42,160 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,960. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 0.6% during the second quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 2.8% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,754 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $391,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 548 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 3.9% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,996 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified LLC grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 3.6% during the second quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.58% of the company’s stock.

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.