Short Interest in Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) Increases By 48.1%

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,110,000 shares, an increase of 48.1% from the October 15th total of 2,100,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,060,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on KEYS. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Keysight Technologies in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $167.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.89.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE:KEYS traded down $4.31 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.37. 1,282,196 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,174,195. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.52. Keysight Technologies has a 52-week low of $119.72 and a 52-week high of $166.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 4.65 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $155.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.92.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total value of $254,592.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 42,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,576,960. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KEYS. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in Keysight Technologies in the third quarter valued at $29,000. American National Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Keysight Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Keysight Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 84.58% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.