Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,400,000 shares, a decrease of 14.6% from the December 15th total of 2,810,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,170,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 0.4 %

KEYS stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $165.70. The stock had a trading volume of 692,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 696,506. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $28.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $164.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $152.85. Keysight Technologies has a 1-year low of $119.72 and a 1-year high of $175.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Satish Dhanasekaran sold 17,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.66, for a total value of $3,023,680.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 116,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,779,302.12. This represents a 13.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Mark Adam Wallace sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.79, for a total transaction of $970,740.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 85,829 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,886,273.91. The trade was a 6.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,063 shares of company stock worth $5,573,941 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 2,593 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 548 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,996 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 20,669 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,826,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Keysight Technologies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,432 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $392,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KEYS. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on Keysight Technologies from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Keysight Technologies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $180.80.

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.