Knowles Corporation $KN Shares Sold by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC cut its stake in shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 64.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,691 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 39,199 shares during the period. Virtus Advisers LLC’s holdings in Knowles were worth $806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KN. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knowles in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $571,614,000. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd acquired a new stake in Knowles in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $117,000,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Knowles in the second quarter valued at approximately $102,398,000. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Knowles by 41.6% in the third quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,319,834 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $49,032,000 after purchasing an additional 387,785 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Knowles by 3.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 809,015 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $20,776,000 after purchasing an additional 25,778 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on KN. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 price target on Knowles in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Weiss Ratings cut Knowles from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Wall Street Zen cut Knowles from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Knowles from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knowles has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Knowles Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NYSE KN traded down $0.98 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 455,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,288. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Knowles Corporation has a 1 year low of $20.57 and a 1 year high of $42.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.25 and a beta of 1.60.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. Knowles had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 11.82%. The firm had revenue of $184.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $172.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Knowles Corporation will post 1.10 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knowles news, Director Cheryl Shavers sold 6,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $259,888.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,723 shares in the company, valued at $1,402,842.21. The trade was a 15.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Knowles Company Profile

Knowles Corporation is a global supplier of advanced electronic components and acoustic solutions. Founded in 1946, the company began by developing microphones for hearing aids and has expanded into products for medical, industrial, defense, and other specialty markets. Knowles’ offerings include components for hearing health and specialty audio, such as balanced armature receivers and microphones, as well as precision devices including capacitors and radio-frequency components. These products are used in applications where performance, reliability, and compact size are important.