Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Holdings in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 88.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,126 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 119,208 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Knowles were worth $230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Knowles by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,763 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 7,925 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Knowles in the first quarter worth $326,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Knowles by 1,518.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 45,022 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $684,000 after buying an additional 42,241 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Knowles by 725.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in Knowles by 123.5% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 21,747 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 12,017 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knowles Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of KN opened at $17.08 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $16.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.32 and a beta of 1.41. Knowles Corporation has a 1-year low of $12.19 and a 1-year high of $20.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.18. The company had revenue of $132.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.95 million. Knowles had a positive return on equity of 6.35% and a negative net margin of 38.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.18 EPS.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Craig Hallum raised Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Knowles from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 5,545 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $95,651.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 111,286 shares in the company, valued at $1,919,683.50. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Knowles 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).