Knowles Corporation $KN Shares Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 97.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 143,188 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 70,520 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Knowles were worth $3,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Knowles by 66.2% in the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after buying an additional 86,563 shares during the last quarter. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter worth $941,000. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter worth $584,000. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the 4th quarter worth $1,117,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Knowles by 72.9% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 634,355 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $13,594,000 after acquiring an additional 267,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KN has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Knowles from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Knowles in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings raised Knowles from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Knowles from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.67.

Knowles Price Performance

Knowles stock opened at $36.71 on Friday. Knowles Corporation has a one year low of $19.29 and a one year high of $42.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 3.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $38.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.42. The company has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.68 and a beta of 1.59.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.02. Knowles had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 11.45%. The business had revenue of $166.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. Knowles has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.380 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Knowles Corporation will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In related news, COO Daniel J. Giesecke sold 20,201 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.32, for a total transaction of $753,901.32. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 175,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,562,908.60. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 6,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.28, for a total transaction of $224,137.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 127,945 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,641,844.60. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 169,236 shares of company stock worth $5,728,034 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.24% of the company’s stock.

Knowles 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.