William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI – Get Rating) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,000,514 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 246,921 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned about 3.06% of National Instruments worth $147,619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NATI. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in National Instruments by 3,612.7% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 770,760 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,441,000 after acquiring an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC raised its stake in National Instruments by 27.9% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 2,107,752 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $79,547,000 after acquiring an additional 460,212 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG raised its stake in shares of National Instruments by 58.6% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 1,083,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,963,000 after buying an additional 400,000 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Instruments during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,366,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of National Instruments during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,794,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.87% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on NATI shares. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (up previously from $52.00) on shares of National Instruments in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Robert W. Baird lowered National Instruments from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered National Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, April 14th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on National Instruments in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna cut National Instruments from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.57.
National Instruments Trading Up 0.1 %
NASDAQ NATI traded up $0.06 on Monday, reaching $58.07. The stock had a trading volume of 303,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,318,673. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.94 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. National Instruments Co. has a 12-month low of $29.81 and a 12-month high of $58.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.76.
National Instruments Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 8th. National Instruments’s payout ratio is 92.56%.
National Instruments Profile
National Instruments Corp. engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of systems to engineers and scientists that accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery. The firm’s products include Labview, TestStand, FlexLogger, Voltage, Temperature, Software Defined Radios, Power Accessories, and Repair Services.