Swiss National Bank Buys 8,400 Shares of National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI)

Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI – Get Rating) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 319,500 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.24% of National Instruments worth $11,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in NATI. Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in National Instruments by 59.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 10,640 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 3,986 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its stake in National Instruments by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 193,910 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its stake in National Instruments by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 11,340,461 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $427,989,000 after acquiring an additional 37,096 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in National Instruments by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,245 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 3,365 shares during the period. Finally, Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new stake in National Instruments in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,525,000. 90.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

National Instruments Stock Up 0.1 %

NATI stock opened at $58.01 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.06, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $54.44 and its 200 day moving average is $47.76. The stock has a market cap of $7.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.94 and a beta of 1.20. National Instruments Co. has a 1-year low of $29.81 and a 1-year high of $58.29.

National Instruments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 8th. National Instruments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on NATI shares. Susquehanna cut National Instruments from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of National Instruments in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of National Instruments from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 1st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of National Instruments in a report on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of National Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, April 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.57.

About National Instruments

(Get Rating)

National Instruments Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of systems to engineers and scientists that accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery. The firm’s products include Labview, TestStand, FlexLogger, Voltage, Temperature, Software Defined Radios, Power Accessories, and Repair Services.