Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. cut its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 229,620 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 11,349 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.13% of Cognex worth $8,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 87,790 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $51,199,000 after buying an additional 42,292 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $790,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Cognex by 75.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 19.8% in the third quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 583,150 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $23,618,000 after purchasing an additional 96,330 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.49 on Wednesday, reaching $30.50. 743,627 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,731,677. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $29.29 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.00 and a beta of 1.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.38.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

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.