Woodline Partners LP Sells 489,943 Shares of Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Woodline Partners LP lessened its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Free Report) by 68.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 222,645 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 489,943 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned about 0.13% of Keysight Technologies worth $35,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its position in Keysight Technologies by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 6,654 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 1,440 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,412 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department bought a new stake in Keysight Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $241,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 11,212 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.58% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,589 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.00, for a total value of $257,418.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,829,920. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 3,632 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.00, for a total transaction of $562,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 115,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,834,765. This trade represents a 3.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KEYS. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Keysight Technologies from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $172.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Keysight Technologies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Keysight Technologies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $183.00.

Keysight Technologies Trading Down 1.0%

KEYS traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $160.19. 874,739 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,137,481. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.10. Keysight Technologies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.72 and a 52 week high of $186.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $147.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $159.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.27.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 12.32%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.28 billion. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Keysight Technologies, Inc. will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.