Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) Stake Lessened by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,700 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Knowles were worth $770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knowles during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Knowles by 114.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Knowles during the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Knowles by 37.6% during the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in Knowles in the second quarter worth about $46,000. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Keith Barnes sold 6,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.88, for a total transaction of $120,243.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 86,192 shares in the company, valued at $1,541,112.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Knowles news, CFO John S. Anderson sold 10,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $193,214.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 211,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,907,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Keith Barnes sold 6,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.88, for a total value of $120,243.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 86,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,541,112.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 29,748 shares of company stock worth $530,948 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KN. Craig Hallum raised Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th.

Knowles Price Performance

Knowles stock opened at $17.49 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.46. Knowles Co. has a one year low of $14.97 and a one year high of $19.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of -7.47 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

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

Knowles Company Profile

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).