Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Montanaro Asset Management Ltd

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd trimmed its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 17.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 232,750 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 49,650 shares during the quarter. Cognex makes up 1.7% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.14% of Cognex worth $8,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Cognex by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Cognex by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,031,000 after acquiring an additional 307,018 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CGNX. 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Up 0.1 %

CGNX opened at $31.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.28 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.21 and a 200-day moving average of $37.61. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.