Ieq Capital LLC Makes New $377,000 Investment in Knowles Corporation $KN

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC has made a new investment in Knowles Corporation, acquiring 24,774 shares valued at approximately $377,000.
• Significant increases in Knowles holdings were reported by various institutional investors, with Versant Capital Management raising its stake by 725.6% during the first quarter.
• Brokerages have recently upgraded Knowles’ target price, with Craig Hallum increasing it from $20.00 to $22.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating.

Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 24,774 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock, valued at approximately $377,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KN. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Knowles by 725.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,643 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Knowles by 47.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,703 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Knowles in the 1st quarter worth about $106,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Knowles in the 1st quarter worth about $193,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Knowles by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 13,105 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on KN. Craig Hallum upped their target price on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Knowles from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 56,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.47, for a total value of $1,148,981.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 66,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,319.44. This trade represents a 45.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.94, for a total transaction of $209,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 62,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,309,524.78. This trade represents a 13.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KN traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 445,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 461,261. The company has a 50-day moving average of $19.69 and a 200-day moving average of $17.37. Knowles Corporation has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $21.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.00 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.16 and a beta of 1.50.

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).