Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Stake in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN - Free Report) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,475,339 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock after acquiring an additional 265,814 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 10.76% of Knowles worth $169,135,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Knowles by 54,279.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,626 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $47,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616,805 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Knowles by 33.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,392,668 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $43,140,000 after buying an additional 594,484 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Knowles by 569.5% during the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 665,947 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $11,494,000 after purchasing an additional 566,476 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Knowles by 6.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,678,995 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $115,277,000 after purchasing an additional 375,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Knowles during the third quarter valued at about $5,243,000. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Knowles

In other news, Director Cheryl L. Shavers sold 12,579 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $217,490.91. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 48,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $846,051.57. This trade represents a 20.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $2,993,127.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 820,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,576,848.04. This represents a 16.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.65% of the company's stock.

Knowles Stock Down 0.1 %

Knowles stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $19.82. 354,463 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 571,588. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of -8.47 and a beta of 1.44. Knowles Co. has a one year low of $14.97 and a one year high of $20.26.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.16% and a negative net margin of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KN has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, October 26th. Craig Hallum upgraded Knowles to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price target on Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th.

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).