Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $1.55 Million Stock Holdings in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN - Free Report) by 18.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,635 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 17,259 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Knowles worth $1,547,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Knowles by 340.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 112,354 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 173.1% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 15,838 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $316,000 after purchasing an additional 10,038 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Knowles by 72.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,451 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 1,449 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Knowles by 66.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,869 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in Knowles by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 275,317 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,487,000 after buying an additional 5,019 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KN. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Knowles from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Craig Hallum raised shares of Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knowles

In other Knowles news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 5,545 shares of the business'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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 111,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,919,683.50. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.54% of the company's stock.

Knowles Stock Down 1.4%

Knowles stock traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $16.21. The stock had a trading volume of 463,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 686,254. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $15.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83. Knowles Co. has a 1-year low of $12.19 and a 1-year high of $20.86.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18. The company had revenue of $132.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.95 million. Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The firm's revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share.

Knowles Company 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).