Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,475,339 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 265,814 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.11% of Knowles worth $169,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Knowles by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $66,000 after acquiring an additional 607 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Knowles by 4.8% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 14,489 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Knowles by 37.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd boosted its stake in Knowles by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 17,985 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Knowles by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 9,276 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knowles news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 157,699 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total value of $2,993,127.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 820,698 shares in the company, valued at $15,576,848.04. This represents a 16.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $73,208.52. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 61,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,200,312.26. This trade represents a 5.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Knowles Price Performance

NYSE KN opened at $19.82 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Knowles Co. has a 1 year low of $14.97 and a 1 year high of $20.26. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -8.47 and a beta of 1.44. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $18.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.91.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly 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 negative net margin of 27.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The business had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

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).