Raymond James & Associates Decreases Stock Position in National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI)

Raymond James & Associates trimmed its holdings in shares of National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI – Get Rating) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 114,034 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in National Instruments were worth $4,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of National Instruments by 225.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 781 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in National Instruments during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in National Instruments by 77.0% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 995 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in National Instruments by 231.8% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,022 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of National Instruments during the third quarter worth about $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NATI. StockNews.com began coverage on National Instruments in a research report on Sunday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Susquehanna cut National Instruments from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $60.00 price target (up from $52.00) on shares of National Instruments in a report on Thursday, April 13th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of National Instruments from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered shares of National Instruments from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.57.

National Instruments Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of National Instruments stock opened at $57.66 on Thursday. National Instruments Co. has a 1 year low of $29.81 and a 1 year high of $58.30. The company has a market capitalization of $7.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.65 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

National Instruments Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 8th. National Instruments’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.56%.

Insider Activity at National Instruments

In other news, EVP Scott Arthur Rust sold 29,821 shares of National Instruments stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.98, for a total transaction of $1,729,021.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,533 shares in the company, valued at $2,118,183.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Scott Arthur Rust sold 29,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.98, for a total transaction of $1,729,021.58. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 36,533 shares in the company, valued at $2,118,183.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Alexander M. Davern sold 5,037 shares of National Instruments stock in a transaction on Monday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.05, for a total transaction of $292,397.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 188,532 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,944,282.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About National Instruments

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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.