GW&K Investment Management LLC Sells 17,736 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

GW&K Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor 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 approximately 0.95% of Cognex worth $58,662,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth $36,000. Clean Yield Group grew its position in Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 50.2% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.83.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.31 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $31.56. 3,321,689 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,458,005. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.74 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $31.06 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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, analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Cognex's payout ratio is 52.46%.

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.