Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 710,050 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 79,500 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.41% of Cognex worth $25,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Cognex by 5.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Cognex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on CGNX. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Cognex Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.86 during trading on Monday, reaching $22.91. 441,195 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,442,535. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.56 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $30.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.85. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex Company 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.