Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 4,344 Shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 14.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,517 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 4,344 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Knowles were worth $388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Knowles by 725.6% during 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. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Knowles by 835.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 2,448 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Knowles by 47.0% during 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. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter worth about $209,000. Institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Knowles

In related news, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 56,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,319.44. This trade represents a 45.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 62,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Corporate insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Knowles from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Craig Hallum increased 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.

Knowles Trading Down 1.7%

Knowles stock opened at $20.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $18.57 and a 200-day moving average of $17.09. Knowles Corporation has a one year low of $12.19 and a one year high of $21.37. 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 company has a market cap of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.00 and a beta of 1.45.

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).