Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• Short interest fell 18.4% to 1,846,898 shares as of March 31, representing about 1.1% of the float and a days-to-cover ratio of 1.2.
• Wall Street has grown more bullish—several firms raised price targets (Wells Fargo to $300, JPMorgan to $360) and the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $314.33.
• Keysight beat Q1 estimates (EPS $2.17 vs. $2.00; revenue $1.60B vs. $1.54B), issued FY2026 guidance around 8.59 EPS, and the stock is trading near its 52-week high (last at $329.83).

Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,846,898 shares, a drop of 18.4% from the March 15th total of 2,262,661 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,479,585 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.2 days. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEYS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "positive" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $300.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. They set a "hold" rating and a $310.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $314.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Keysight Technologies

In other Keysight Technologies news, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.37, for a total transaction of $596,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 125,272 shares in the company, valued at $37,377,406.64. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ronald S. Nersesian sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total transaction of $8,578,800.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 163,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,719,286.92. This trade represents a 15.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,334 shares of company stock valued at $11,533,230 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 92.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 27,216 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,965,000 after purchasing an additional 13,085 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 5.0% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 30.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 10,652 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,595,000 after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 66.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 393 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the second quarter worth about $254,000. 84.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 1.4%

NYSE KEYS traded up $4.58 on Thursday, hitting $329.83. 1,158,641 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,035. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.15. Keysight Technologies has a 52-week low of $129.88 and a 52-week high of $334.99. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $282.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.33.

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