Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in National Instruments Co. (NASDAQ:NATI – Get Rating) by 91.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,725 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 191,339 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in National Instruments were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of National Instruments by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,879,023 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $198,040,000 after purchasing an additional 487,646 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of National Instruments by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,584,549 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $145,497,000 after purchasing an additional 141,867 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its stake in National Instruments by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 3,346,719 shares of the technology company's stock worth $135,843,000 after buying an additional 80,932 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in National Instruments by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,153,618 shares of the technology company's stock worth $137,718,000 after buying an additional 447,983 shares during the period. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC raised its stake in National Instruments by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 2,149,503 shares of the technology company's stock worth $87,248,000 after buying an additional 95,572 shares during the period. 83.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other National Instruments news, CEO Eric Howard Starkloff sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total transaction of $37,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,065,676. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other National Instruments news, EVP Jason Elliot Green sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.46, for a total transaction of $207,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 82,081 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,403,078.26. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Eric Howard Starkloff sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.00, for a total value of $37,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 287,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,065,676. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,900 shares of company stock valued at $438,050 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.64% of the company's stock.

National Instruments Stock Performance

National Instruments (NASDAQ:NATI – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The technology company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $395.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.98 million. National Instruments had a return on equity of 15.63% and a net margin of 6.71%. National Instruments's quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that National Instruments Co. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

National Instruments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 8th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 5th. National Instruments's dividend payout ratio is presently 143.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded National Instruments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on National Instruments from $48.00 to $43.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on National Instruments from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on National Instruments from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, National Instruments presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.80.

National Instruments Company Profile

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National Instruments Corporation provides a software-centric platform and systems to engineers and scientists worldwide. Its programming environments software includes NI LabVIEW, a graphical software platform to visualize hardware configuration, measurement data, and debugging of application; NI LabWindows/CVI, an ANSI C integrated development environment and engineering toolbox; and NI Measurement Studio, a suite of .NET tools for building engineering applications in Microsoft Visual Studio.

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