Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,360,572 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 49,796 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Knowles were worth $27,116,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its position in Knowles by 4.3% during the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 17,985 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Knowles by 72.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Knowles by 2.2% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 66,201 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. increased its position in Knowles by 11.0% during the third quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 18,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $326,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Knowles by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,869 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KN. Craig Hallum cut Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

Knowles Price Performance

KN stock opened at $16.21 on Tuesday. Knowles Co. has a 52-week low of $15.00 and a 52-week high of $20.86. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.12 and a beta of 1.42.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter.

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).