Keysight Technologies Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KEYS)

Keysight Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:KEYS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 2,193 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 216% compared to the average daily volume of 695 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Keysight Technologies

In other news, Director Richard P. Hamada sold 1,632 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 42,160 shares in the company, valued at $6,576,960. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Keysight Technologies

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

KEYS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Keysight Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Keysight Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $163.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Keysight Technologies from $155.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Keysight Technologies from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.30.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of KEYS traded up $8.73 on Wednesday, reaching $160.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,166,554 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,181,788. Keysight Technologies has a 12-month low of $119.72 and a 12-month high of $168.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.12, a PEG ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.05 and a quick ratio of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $155.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.97.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 21.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 5.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.