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Short Interest in KnowBe4, Inc. (NASDAQ:KNBE) Rises By 28.8%

Defense World · Jan 22, 2023 04:31

KnowBe4, Inc. (NASDAQ:KNBE – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,280,000 shares, an increase of 28.8% from the December 15th total of 4,100,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 10.7% of the company's stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KNBE. Wolfe Research lowered KnowBe4 from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. Cowen lowered shares of KnowBe4 from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $24.90 in a report on Tuesday, October 18th. Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of KnowBe4 from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. Cowen downgraded shares of KnowBe4 to a "market perform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $24.90 in a research report on Tuesday, October 18th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of KnowBe4 in a report on Thursday, October 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.63.

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Insider Transactions at KnowBe4

In other KnowBe4 news, Director Shrikrishna Venkataraman sold 158,286 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.52, for a total transaction of $3,881,172.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 377,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,248,625.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Kevin Klausmeyer sold 13,068 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.66, for a total transaction of $322,256.88. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at $291,283.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Shrikrishna Venkataraman sold 158,286 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.52, for a total value of $3,881,172.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 377,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,248,625.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 184,422 shares of company stock worth $4,525,294. Corporate insiders own 5.03% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KnowBe4

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in KnowBe4 in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $68,140,000. Cat Rock Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of KnowBe4 during the 3rd quarter worth $25,300,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of KnowBe4 by 408.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,389,301 shares of the company's stock worth $21,701,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,127 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of KnowBe4 by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,150,830 shares of the company's stock worth $169,620,000 after purchasing an additional 907,218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KnowBe4 during the 3rd quarter worth $18,375,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.90% of the company's stock.

KnowBe4 Stock Performance

Shares of KNBE opened at $24.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 248.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.95 and a beta of 0.36. KnowBe4 has a one year low of $13.78 and a one year high of $26.00. The stock's fifty day moving average is $24.74 and its 200-day moving average is $21.74.

KnowBe4 (NASDAQ:KNBE – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 14th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter. KnowBe4 had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 5.02%. The business had revenue of $85.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $85.69 million. Analysts forecast that KnowBe4 will post 0.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KnowBe4 Company Profile

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KnowBe4, Inc engages in the development, marketing, and sale of its Software-as-a-Service-based security awareness platform. The company provides a platform incorporating security awareness training and simulated phishing with analytics and reporting that helps organizations manage the ongoing problem of social engineering.