Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by GW&K Investment Management LLC

GW&K Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,635,853 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 17,736 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned about 0.95% of Cognex worth $58,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CGNX. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in Cognex by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $164,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $32.71 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $37.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.64. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $32.14 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 53.62 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.