BNP Paribas Financial Markets Grows Position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 74.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,166 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 13,320 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Knowles were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knowles in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Knowles by 114.6% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 37.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knowles during the second quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KN. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th.

Insider Transactions at Knowles

In related news, Director Cheryl L. Shavers sold 12,579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total value of $217,490.91. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $846,051.57. This represents a 20.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $73,208.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 61,681 shares in the company, valued at $1,200,312.26. The trade was a 5.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Price Performance

Knowles stock opened at $19.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.90. Knowles Co. has a 1 year low of $14.97 and a 1 year high of $20.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.47 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. Knowles had a negative net margin of 27.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The company had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM).