JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,391,851 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 392,388 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned about 0.81% of Cognex worth $49,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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Cognex Stock Down 6.6 %

CGNX stock traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.09. 436,696 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,914,085. The company has a market cap of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.49 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $32.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.65. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.