Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Keysight Technologies from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Keysight Technologies from $225.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $282.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Keysight Technologies from $243.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Keysight Technologies from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $304.17.

Keysight Technologies Stock Performance

KEYS opened at $291.21 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.47, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $262.76 and a 200 day moving average of $214.49. Keysight Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $121.43 and a fifty-two week high of $317.00.

Keysight Technologies (NYSE:KEYS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.17. Keysight Technologies had a net margin of 16.84% and a return on equity of 19.26%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 23.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Keysight Technologies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.590- EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.270-2.330 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Keysight Technologies will post 6.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Keysight Technologies

In other news, Director Ronald S. Nersesian sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.96, for a total value of $8,578,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 163,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,719,286.92. This trade represents a 15.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Neil Dougherty sold 2,000 shares of Keysight Technologies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.37, for a total value of $596,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 125,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,377,406.64. This trade represents a 1.57% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 40,334 shares of company stock valued at $11,533,230 over the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Keysight Technologies

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KEYS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Keysight Technologies by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,525,694 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,373,806,000 after acquiring an additional 101,856 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Keysight Technologies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,419,811 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,539,532,000 after acquiring an additional 85,693 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,191,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,664,511,000 after purchasing an additional 200,279 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Keysight Technologies by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,870,268 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $851,525,000 after purchasing an additional 160,728 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Keysight Technologies by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,940,767 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $800,732,000 after purchasing an additional 240,058 shares during the last quarter. 84.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Keysight Technologies

Keysight Technologies is a global provider of electronic design, test, measurement and optimization solutions for communications, electronics and related industries. The company was formed as a corporate spin-off from Agilent Technologies in 2014; its origins trace back to the electronic measurement business that was part of Hewlett‑Packard before Agilent. Keysight develops hardware and software used throughout the product development lifecycle, from design and simulation to prototype validation and manufacturing test.

Keysight’s product portfolio includes electronic test and measurement instruments such as oscilloscopes, network and spectrum analyzers, signal generators, vector network analyzers and modular PXI-based systems, together with software platforms for simulation, automated test and data analysis.