JPMorgan Chase & Co. Raises Position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 10.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,051,346 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 191,383 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 2.33% of Knowles worth $36,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Knowles during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Knowles by 114.6% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Knowles during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Knowles by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Knowles during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on KN shares. StockNews.com cut Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Craig Hallum raised shares of Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $73,208.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 61,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,312.26. This represents a 5.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 21,080 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.56, for a total transaction of $370,164.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 66,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,160,066.28. This represents a 24.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,541 shares of company stock valued at $3,436,500. 2.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Knowles Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KN opened at $20.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.16 and its 200-day moving average is $18.17. The company has a market cap of $1.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.73 and a beta of 1.43. Knowles Co. has a 52-week low of $14.97 and a 52-week high of $20.74.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.16% and a negative net margin of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis.

About Knowles

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).