Investors Buy Large Volume of Keysight Technologies Call Options (NYSE:KEYS)

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 2,193 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 216% compared to the typical volume of 695 call options.

Insider Activity at Keysight Technologies

In related news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.00, for a total transaction of $254,592.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,576,960. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Keysight Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KEYS. Swedbank AB increased its position in Keysight Technologies by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 4,128,892 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $564,626,000 after purchasing an additional 151,446 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 8.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 176,966 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $28,125,000 after buying an additional 14,185 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Keysight Technologies by 72.6% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 16,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,685,000 after buying an additional 7,106 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl bought a new stake in Keysight Technologies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,434,000. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Keysight Technologies by 172.6% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 41,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,565,000 after purchasing an additional 26,577 shares in the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KEYS shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on Keysight Technologies from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on Keysight Technologies from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.30.

Keysight Technologies Trading Up 5.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KEYS traded up $8.73 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $160.86. 1,166,554 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,181,788. The company has a current ratio of 2.05, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Keysight Technologies has a 52-week low of $119.72 and a 52-week high of $168.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.12, a P/E/G ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $155.38 and its 200-day moving average is $145.97.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 20th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Keysight Technologies had a return on equity of 21.01% and a net margin of 18.24%. Keysight Technologies’s revenue was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.04 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.48 EPS for the current year.

Keysight Technologies Company 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.