Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Sells 3,029,018 Shares of Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in Keysight Technologies by 65.1%, selling over 3 million shares and now owning about 1.2% of the company.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for Keysight Technologies, with Morgan Stanley raising its target price from $156 to $180, and JPMorgan Chase from $177 to $200, both maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• In the last quarter, insiders sold a total of 31,830 shares of Keysight Technologies, which represents a significant decline in their ownership percentages, whereas only 0.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 65.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,623,293 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 3,029,018 shares during the quarter. Keysight Technologies makes up approximately 1.2% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned about 0.94% of Keysight Technologies worth $243,121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KEYS. Praxis Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 45.8% in the 1st quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $954,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Keysight Technologies by 142.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,948 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Keysight Technologies by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 52,174 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $7,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,635 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Keysight Technologies by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,730 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Finally, True Link Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Keysight Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $351,000. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KEYS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company 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 upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.50.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,589 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $257,418.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 42,160 shares in the company, valued at $6,829,920. The trade was a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP John Page sold 7,368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total value of $1,162,523.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 36,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,835,651.08. This trade represents a 16.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 31,830 shares of company stock valued at $5,124,049. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Keysight Technologies Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Keysight Technologies stock traded down $1.12 on Friday, reaching $163.36. 1,061,160 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 796,700. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $163.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $121.43 and a fifty-two week high of $186.20.

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

Keysight Technologies 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.