Is Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS) a good investment right now? We check hedge fund and billionaire investor sentiment before delving into hours of research. Hedge funds spend millions of dollars on Ivy League graduates, expert networks, and get tips from industry insiders. They fail miserably sometimes, but historically their consensus stock picks outperformed the market after adjusting for known risk factors.
Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS) has seen an increase in support from the world’s most elite money managers in recent months. KEYS was in 21 hedge funds’ portfolios at the end of the third quarter of 2015. There were 18 hedge funds in our database with KEYS positions at the end of the previous quarter. At the end of this article we will also compare KEYS to other stocks, including Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW), PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI), and Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFSI) to get a better sense of its popularity.
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To the average investor there are a multitude of indicators stock traders use to appraise their holdings. A couple of the best indicators are hedge fund and insider trading signals. We have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the best money managers can outperform the market by a very impressive amount (see the details here).
Now, we’re going to take a glance at the latest action encompassing Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS).
Hedge fund activity in Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS)
At Q3’s end, a total of 21 of the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey were long this stock, an increase of 17% from the previous quarter. With hedgies’ capital changing hands, there exists a select group of key hedge fund managers who were boosting their holdings considerably (or already accumulated large positions).
According to Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, D. E. Shaw’s D E Shaw has the biggest position in Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS), worth close to $74.2 million, amounting to 0.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Millennium Management, led by Israel Englander, holding a $15.7 million position; the fund has less than 0.1% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining professional money managers that are bullish include Cliff Asness’s AQR Capital Management, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management and John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors.
Consequently, key money managers have jumped into Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS) headfirst. HBK Investments, managed by David Costen Haley, established the biggest position in Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS). According to its latest 13F filing, the fund had $2.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Chao Ku’s Nine Chapters Capital Management also made a $1.6 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The other funds with brand new KEYS positions are Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, Michael Price’s MFP Investors, and Matthew Tewksbury’s Stevens Capital Management.
Let’s also examine hedge fund activity in other stocks similar to Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS). These stocks are Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW), PerkinElmer, Inc. (NYSE:PKI), Amtrust Financial Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:AFSI), and Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO). All of these stocks’ market caps match KEYS’s market cap.
| Ticker | No of HFs with positions | Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) | Change in HF Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| ARW | 27 | 317004 | 5 |
| PKI | 25 | 475659 | 7 |
| AFSI | 20 | 108689 | 0 |
| SIRO | 19 | 697429 | 6 |
As you can see these stocks had an average of 23 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $400 million. That figure was just $179 million in KEYS’s case. Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Sirona Dental Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIRO) is the least popular one with only 19 bullish hedge fund positions. Keysight Technologies Inc (NYSE:KEYS) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard ARW might be a better candidate to consider a long position.
