Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 11.5% during the first quarter, now owning $32.35 million worth of the company.
• CEO Satish Dhanasekaran and SVP John Page both sold shares of Keysight Technologies, with insider sales totaling 31,830 shares in the past 90 days.
• Wall Street analysts are optimistic, with JPMorgan Chase raising the target price for Keysight Technologies from $177 to $200, indicating a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating.

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,021 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 22,258 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Keysight Technologies worth $32,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KEYS. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Keysight Technologies by 97.8% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 182 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 39.9% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 241.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies in the first quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 188.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the period. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of KEYS stock traded up $2.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $161.65. The company had a trading volume of 1,021,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 977,820. The company's fifty day moving average is $162.41 and its 200 day moving average is $158.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.39 and a quick ratio of 2.75. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $119.72 and a fifty-two week high of $186.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.82 billion, a PE ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Research analysts expect that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEYS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Keysight Technologies from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $187.50.

Insider Activity at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 12,215 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.60, for a total value of $2,010,589.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,228 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,966,528.80. This represents a 9.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Satish Dhanasekaran sold 658 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $103,819.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 115,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,235,581.28. This represents a 0.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 31,830 shares of company stock worth $5,124,049 over the last 90 days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.