20,084,001 Shares in Keysight Technologies Inc. $KEYS Bought by BlackRock Inc.

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired 20.08 million Keysight shares during the second quarter, valued at approximately $7.03 billion, giving it an 11.75% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 84.58% of the company.
• Keysight reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.87 beating estimates of $2.32 and revenue rising 31.5% year over year to $1.72 billion.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $371.92, while the stock recently traded at $359.87.

BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,084,001 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $7,030,806,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 11.75% of Keysight Technologies as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KEYS. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 36.1% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 113 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS purchased a new position in Keysight Technologies during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Keysight Technologies Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:KEYS opened at $359.87 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $333.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $313.09. The stock has a market cap of $61.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.22. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $152.85 and a fifty-two week high of $374.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 1.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.55. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 17.25% and a return on equity of 21.58%. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.70 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 31.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Keysight Technologies from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $340.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $375.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $310.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $371.92.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In related news, Director James Cullen sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.58, for a total transaction of $1,039,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 21,821 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,562,722.18. The trade was a 12.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Ingrid A. Estrada sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $340.87, for a total value of $681,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 105,861 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,084,839.07. This represents a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,507 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,669. Insiders own 0.40% 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.

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