C WorldWide Group Holding A S reduced its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 75.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 130,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 408,361 shares during the period. C WorldWide Group Holding A S owned 0.08% of Cognex worth $4,693,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Clean Yield Group increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.83.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Cognex
Insider Activity
In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.
Cognex Price Performance
Shares of CGNX traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.81. 1,300,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,409,427. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $32.14 and a one year high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.25 and a 200-day moving average of $38.72.
Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Cognex Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Cognex's payout ratio is currently 52.46%.
Cognex Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
Before you consider Cognex, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Cognex wasn't on the list.
While Cognex currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Which stocks are likely to thrive in today's challenging market? Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that will drive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
