Magnetar Financial LLC Raises Position in Keysight Technologies Inc. $KEYS

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC significantly increased its stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. by 1,155.4%, acquiring an additional 20,034 shares to own a total of 21,768 shares valued at approximately $3.26 million.
• Keysight Technologies recently reported strong financial performance, with earnings per share of $1.72 for the quarter, surpassing expectations and reflecting a 11.1% revenue increase year-over-year.
• Brokerages have raised their price targets for Keysight, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. setting a new target at $200.00, indicating a positive outlook for the stock.

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 1,155.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,034 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC's holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $3,260,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 141.8% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 102,573 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $15,362,000 after acquiring an additional 60,150 shares during the last quarter. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new position in Keysight Technologies in the first quarter valued at $39,000. State of Wyoming increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 77.8% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 1,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Keysight Technologies in the first quarter valued at $724,000. Finally, Findlay Park Partners LLP increased its stake in Keysight Technologies by 1.4% in the first quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP now owns 716,752 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $107,348,000 after acquiring an additional 9,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE KEYS traded up $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.38. 493,332 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 987,615. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 3.59 and a quick ratio of 2.94. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a 12-month low of $121.43 and a 12-month high of $186.20. The firm has a market cap of $28.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.67, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.16.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.32 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 10.36% and a return on equity of 19.53%. Keysight Technologies's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.57 earnings per share. Keysight Technologies has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 1.790-1.85 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.090-7.090 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 12,215 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 115,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,966,528.80. This trade represents a 9.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Ingrid A. Estrada sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $158.97, for a total transaction of $1,589,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 108,590 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,262,552.30. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on Keysight Technologies from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. 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 research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $175.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.38.

About Keysight Technologies

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.