Lateef Investment Management L.P. lessened its holdings in shares of Keysight (NYSE:KEYS) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 773,439 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,177 shares during the period. Keysight comprises approximately 5.3% of Lateef Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Lateef Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Keysight were worth $40,520,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in shares of Keysight by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,522,212 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $645,724,000 after purchasing an additional 223,294 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Keysight by 52.5% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 7,596,674 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $316,022,000 after buying an additional 2,613,683 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Keysight by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,301,488 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $178,942,000 after buying an additional 328,386 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Keysight by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,281,913 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $94,928,000 after buying an additional 129,969 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Keysight by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,568,773 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $65,260,000 after buying an additional 19,445 shares in the last quarter. 87.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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Shares of NYSE KEYS opened at $53.53 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00 and a beta of 1.01. Keysight has a 52-week low of $53.42 and a 52-week high of $53.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 2.57 and a quick ratio of 1.88.
Keysight (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $837.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $805.96 million. Keysight had a return on equity of 18.19% and a net margin of 2.64%. The business’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 earnings per share. sell-side analysts predict that Keysight will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.
Keysight declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, March 6th that allows the company to repurchase $350.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the scientific and technical instruments company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
In related news, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 6,671 shares of Keysight stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.13, for a total value of $341,088.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 90,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,611,670.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Satish Dhanasekaran sold 2,000 shares of Keysight stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.94, for a total value of $103,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 21,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,139,823.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,049 shares of company stock valued at $6,107,829 over the last ninety days. 0.97% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $62.00 price target on shares of Keysight in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Keysight from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Keysight from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (up from $52.00) on shares of Keysight in a report on Thursday, March 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Keysight in a report on Friday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Keysight currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $55.50.
Keysight Profile
Keysight Technologies, Inc provides electronic design and test solutions to communications and electronics industries internationally. Its Communications Solutions Group segment provides radio frequency and microwave test instruments and related software, and electronic design automation (EDA) software tools; oscilloscopes, logic and serial protocol analyzers, logic-signal sources, arbitrary waveform generators, and bit error rate testers; optical modulation analyzers, component analyzers, power meters, and laser source products, as well as optical amplifier, filter, and other passive component solutions; and related software solutions.
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