William Blair Investment Management LLC Has $26.43 Million Stock Holdings in Knowles Corporation $KN

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,233,346 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 312,949 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Knowles were worth $26,431,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 365.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,394,341 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,715 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,510,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,108,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $119,072,000 after purchasing an additional 484,500 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,360,918 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,723,000 after purchasing an additional 470,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 95.9% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,340,000 after purchasing an additional 469,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on KN. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knowles in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Knowles from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Craig Hallum reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.33.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In related news, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,623 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.91, for a total value of $111,986.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 47,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,470,357.79. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 9,221 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.88, for a total value of $257,081.48. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 162,078 shares of company stock valued at $5,312,336 over the last ninety days. 2.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Knowles Stock Performance

Knowles stock opened at $36.66 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 3.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Knowles Corporation has a 12-month low of $16.09 and a 12-month high of $37.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.28 and a beta of 1.56.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. Knowles had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 9.10%.The business had revenue of $153.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $147.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Knowles has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.280-0.320 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Knowles Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing and precision device solutions. The company’s product portfolio includes microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones, balanced armature receivers, acoustic filters, and custom audio processing integrated circuits. These solutions are designed to enable clear speech, enhanced voice capture and intelligent audio performance in a variety of end markets.

Founded in 1946, Knowles has evolved from its roots in vacuum tube components to become a pure-play audio technology provider following its spin-off from Dover Corporation in 2014.