Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Short Interest Update

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,480,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the February 29th total of 3,060,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on KEYS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Keysight Technologies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $184.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $160.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Keysight Technologies

In related news, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 4,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.88, for a total value of $657,384.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 29,156 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,457,369.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KEYS. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 14.7% in the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 1.3% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 6,780 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,071,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new position in Keysight Technologies in the first quarter worth approximately $592,000. National Pension Service increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 2.2% in the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 274,276 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $43,327,000 after buying an additional 5,882 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,348,229 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,214,409,000 after buying an additional 153,857 shares during the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

NYSE KEYS traded down $1.25 on Tuesday, reaching $153.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 991,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,224,923. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.93. Keysight Technologies has a twelve month low of $118.57 and a twelve month high of $172.72. The stock has a market cap of $26.84 billion, a PE ratio of 28.44, a PEG ratio of 7.17 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's 50 day moving average is $154.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.07.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.04. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.14% and a return on equity of 26.84%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Keysight Technologies will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

Keysight Technologies Company 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.