Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) EVP Sells $222,662.19 in Stock

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.80. 1,501,667 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,412,448. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $32.14 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 53.77 and a beta of 1.40. The company's 50 day moving average price is $37.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.55.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cognex by 5.2% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,784,239 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $72,262,000 after purchasing an additional 87,790 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $790,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 255.1% during the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 24,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 17,854 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,386,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $56,172,000 after acquiring an additional 77,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 116.0% during the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 789,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $31,977,000 after acquiring an additional 423,950 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.83.

About Cognex

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.