Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 529,324 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 53,826 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Cognex worth $18,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 719.2% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,171 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 25.1% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 474,163 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $19,204,000 after purchasing an additional 95,063 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth about $283,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 38.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,386 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $745,000 after buying an additional 5,084 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Cognex stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 198,688 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,388,610. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.72. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $32.14 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.35 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday. UBS Group cut their price target on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.