LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ:NATI) by 17.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,365 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,250 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in National Instruments Corporation were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of National Instruments Corporation during the first quarter valued at $560,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of National Instruments Corporation by 0.4% in the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 137,123 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. Coastline Trust Co increased its stake in shares of National Instruments Corporation by 1.6% in the first quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 60,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the period. Palisade Capital Management LLC NJ purchased a new stake in shares of National Instruments Corporation during the first quarter valued at $4,299,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its stake in National Instruments Corporation by 2.7% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 26,800 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $873,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.90% of the company’s stock.
Shares of National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ NATI) traded up 1.34% during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.11. 560,251 shares of the stock traded hands. National Instruments Corporation has a 52-week low of $26.74 and a 52-week high of $43.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.04 and a 200-day moving average of $35.91. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.28 and a beta of 0.94.
National Instruments Corporation (NASDAQ:NATI) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The technology company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $318.61 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $321.07 million. National Instruments Corporation had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 8.11%. National Instruments Corporation’s revenue was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that National Instruments Corporation will post $0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.21 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. National Instruments Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 107.69%.
A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NATI. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of National Instruments Corporation in a research note on Sunday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank AG initiated coverage on shares of National Instruments Corporation in a research note on Tuesday, May 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. BidaskClub cut shares of National Instruments Corporation from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of National Instruments Corporation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $39.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.25.
In related news, Director Jeffrey L. Kodosky sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.94, for a total value of $85,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 384,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,500,596.74. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alexander M. Davern sold 9,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.52, for a total value of $381,887.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 84,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,264,839.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 88,249 shares of company stock worth $3,511,995. Company insiders own 9.92% of the company’s stock.
About National Instruments Corporation
National Instruments Corporation (NI) designs, manufactures and sells systems to engineers and scientists. The Company offers a line of measurement, automation and control products. It offers products, technology and services, which include system design software, programming tools, application software, modular hardware products and related driver software, production test systems, NI education platform, software products for teaching and hardware products for teaching.
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