Tredje AP fonden Decreases Stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Key Points

• Tredje AP fonden reduced its stake in Keysight Technologies by 86.6%, holding only 13,842 shares after selling 89,695 shares in the first quarter, with a total value of approximately $2.07 million.
• In contrast, several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Keysight Technologies, with Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC growing its stake by 364.6% during the fourth quarter.
• Keysight Technologies recently posted a quarterly EPS of $1.70, beating analyst estimates, with a revenue of $1.32 billion, reflecting a 7.4% year-over-year increase.

Tredje AP fonden lessened its stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 86.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,842 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 89,695 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $2,073,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 39.9% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 241.8% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Keysight Technologies during the first quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 188.1% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KEYS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $187.50.

Keysight Technologies Stock Up 1.6%

Keysight Technologies stock traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $161.17. 331,854 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 975,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a current ratio of 3.39. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a 12 month low of $119.72 and a 12 month high of $186.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $158.89. The company has a market cap of $27.74 billion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.11.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, SVP John Page sold 7,368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $1,162,523.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,835,651.08. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,589 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total transaction of $257,418.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 42,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,829,920. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 31,830 shares of company stock valued at $5,124,049. 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.