Bailard Inc. Sells 17,800 Shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Bailard Inc. lessened its position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 45.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,517 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 17,800 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Knowles were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KN. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Knowles in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Knowles by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 66.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,869 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Knowles by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 9,276 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in Knowles in the 4th quarter valued at $194,000. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on KN shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Craig Hallum lowered shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 14th.

Knowles Stock Performance

NYSE:KN opened at $15.85 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.49. Knowles Co. has a 1-year low of $15.00 and a 1-year high of $20.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.98 and a beta of 1.42.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter.

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).