Blair William & Co. IL Has $684,000 Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 49.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,073 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 18,373 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL's holdings in Cognex were worth $684,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth about $40,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $24.82. 317,211 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,294,767. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 40.67 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's 50 day moving average is $33.35 and its 200-day moving average is $37.03. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $23.10 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CGNX. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.