William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 132,884 Shares of Knowles Corporation $KN

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Knowles Corporation by 7.5%, selling 132,884 shares during the second quarter, leaving them with approximately 1.89% ownership valued at $28.9 million.
• Other institutional investors, including CWM LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, increased their holdings in Knowles, indicating strong interest in the company despite fluctuations in insider trading.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Knowles, with two giving the stock a buy rating and two a hold rating, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $21.00.

William Blair Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN - Free Report) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,640,067 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after selling 132,884 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 1.89% of Knowles worth $28,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Knowles by 47.0% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,703 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Knowles by 118.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Knowles in the first quarter worth $106,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Knowles by 283.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knowles in the first quarter worth $193,000. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on KN shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Knowles in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of KN opened at $23.42 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.76 and a beta of 1.53. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $22.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.80. Knowles Corporation has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $24.53.

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).

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