Knowles Corporation $KN Position Decreased by Virtus Advisers LLC

Virtus Advisers LLC cut its stake in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 64.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Knowles during the second quarter worth approximately $571,614,000. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd acquired a new position in Knowles during the second quarter worth $117,000,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new stake in Knowles in the 2nd quarter valued at $102,398,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Knowles in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,158,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in Knowles in the 2nd quarter valued at $21,568,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Trading Down 2.9%

KN traded down $0.98 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $33.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 455,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 880,288. Knowles Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $20.57 and a fifty-two week high of $42.93. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25 and a beta of 1.60. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.28 and its 200-day 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 (NYSE:KN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $184.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $172.10 million. Knowles had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 10.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Knowles Corporation will post 1.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other news, Director Cheryl Shavers sold 6,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total value of $259,888.86. Following the transaction, the director owned 35,723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,402,842.21. This represents a 15.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Knowles

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.