Korea Investment CORP Cuts Stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. $KEYS

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP reduced its stake in Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) by 17.1% in Q3, selling 23,511 shares and now holds 113,655 shares valued at about $19.88 million (≈0.07% of the company).
• Several Wall Street firms raised targets and ratings on KEYS—JPMorgan and Wells Fargo to $300 and Barclays to $320—leaving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $295.36.
• Keysight topped quarterly estimates with $2.17 EPS and $1.60 billion in revenue (up 23.3% YoY) and its board authorized a $1.5 billion share buyback program (up to ~4.9% of shares outstanding).

Korea Investment CORP lessened its position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 113,655 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 23,511 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.07% of Keysight Technologies worth $19,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in Keysight Technologies in the third quarter valued at about $979,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $621,000. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 291,237 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $50,943,000 after acquiring an additional 6,957 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 571,222 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $99,918,000 after acquiring an additional 40,153 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,107,655 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $181,507,000 after acquiring an additional 33,768 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEYS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Keysight Technologies from $227.00 to $268.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $230.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $232.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $295.36.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KEYS opened at $285.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.60. The business's fifty day moving average price is $237.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.01. The stock has a market cap of $48.91 billion, a PE ratio of 51.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.12. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a one year low of $121.43 and a one year high of $317.00.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.00 by $0.17. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 16.84%.The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Keysight Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.590- EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.270-2.330 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Keysight Technologies announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, November 24th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the scientific and technical instruments company to reacquire up to 4.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Keysight Technologies news, SVP Ingrid A. Estrada sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.68, for a total transaction of $475,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 107,861 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,636,402.48. This trade represents a 1.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 1,000 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.72, for a total transaction of $203,720.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 127,833 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,042,138.76. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,889 shares of company stock worth $1,167,221. Company insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

About Keysight Technologies

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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