Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 4,463 Shares of Keysight Technologies Inc. $KEYS

Key Points

• Sterling Capital Management cut its Keysight Technologies stake by 41.4% in the first quarter, selling 4,463 shares and leaving it with 6,306 shares valued at about $1.78 million.
• Several other institutional investors have recently bought into Keysight, and institutional ownership remains high at 84.58% of the company’s stock.
• Keysight has seen multiple analyst price target increases, with the consensus rating at “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.92, while the company also posted strong quarterly results and raised guidance.

Sterling Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 41.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,306 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 4,463 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $1,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Keysight Technologies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 497.7% during the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 257 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. Institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director James Cullen sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.58, for a total transaction of $1,039,740.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 21,821 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,562,722.18. This trade represents a 12.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satish Dhanasekaran sold 507 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.32, for a total transaction of $183,189.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 121,391 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,860,996.12. This trade represents a 0.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KEYS. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Keysight Technologies from $305.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Keysight Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $310.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $320.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $371.92.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KEYS opened at $339.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $58.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day moving average is $347.01 and its 200-day moving average is $283.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a 1-year low of $152.85 and a 1-year high of $374.96.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.55. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 21.58% and a net margin of 17.25%.The business had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 31.5% on a year-over-year basis. Keysight Technologies has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.430-2.490 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 9.03 earnings per share for the current year.

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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