Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Keysight Technologies Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) by 35.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 9,435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,280 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 97.8% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 182 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 39.9% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 263 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 241.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 188.1% in the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 435 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $156.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $187.50.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE KEYS opened at $167.56 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $158.94. Keysight Technologies Inc. has a 52 week low of $119.72 and a 52 week high of $186.20. The company has a current ratio of 3.39, a quick ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $28.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.33, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.09.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 14.50% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Keysight Technologies Inc. will post 6.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Keysight Technologies

In related news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 42,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,829,920. This represents a 3.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP John Page sold 7,368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.78, for a total transaction of $1,162,523.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 36,986 shares in the company, valued at $5,835,651.08. This represents a 16.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,830 shares of company stock valued at $5,124,049 over the last ninety days. 0.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.