California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Stake in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 656,779 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 10,147 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Keysight Technologies were worth $104,487,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Keysight Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $395,789,000. Keeler Thomas Management LLC raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC now owns 11,429 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,818,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 71.9% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 89,079 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,172,000 after buying an additional 37,270 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,183 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc raised its position in Keysight Technologies by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 264,652 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $42,103,000 after buying an additional 42,352 shares during the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Keysight Technologies news, SVP Kailash Narayanan sold 4,300 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.88, for a total transaction of $657,384.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,156 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,457,369.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Keysight Technologies Price Performance

Keysight Technologies stock opened at $146.79 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $153.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.42. Keysight Technologies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $118.57 and a 1 year high of $172.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.93, a P/E/G ratio of 6.56 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (NYSE:KEYS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.63 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Keysight Technologies, Inc. will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KEYS. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $157.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $134.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Keysight Technologies from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $184.00 to $170.00 in a report on Thursday, February 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Keysight Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.63.

About Keysight Technologies

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.