Knowles (NYSE:KN) CEO Sells $1,237,500.00 in Stock

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $1,237,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 839,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,774,407.50. This trade represents a 5.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Jeffrey Niew also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, December 10th, Jeffrey Niew sold 25,000 shares of Knowles stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.00, for a total value of $600,000.00.
• On Thursday, December 4th, Jeffrey Niew sold 25,000 shares of Knowles stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.50, for a total value of $587,500.00.
• On Monday, November 3rd, Jeffrey Niew sold 38,404 shares of Knowles stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.55, for a total value of $904,414.20.
• On Friday, October 31st, Jeffrey Niew sold 98,252 shares of Knowles stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.71, for a total value of $2,329,554.92.

Knowles Price Performance

NYSE KN opened at $24.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.90 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.79 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.92. Knowles Corporation has a 52-week low of $12.19 and a 52-week high of $25.33.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.08. Knowles had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $152.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $149.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum set a $28.00 price objective on Knowles and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Knowles from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird set a $30.00 price target on Knowles in a report on Friday, October 24th. Zacks Research raised Knowles to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knowles in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Institutional Trading of Knowles

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,094,715 shares in the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC acquired a new position in Knowles during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,510,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Knowles by 10.5% in the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Knowles by 52.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,360,918 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,723,000 after buying an additional 470,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 95.9% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $22,340,000 after buying an additional 469,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Company Profile

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.