Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Sells 4,540 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,771 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,540 shares during the period. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,857,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 122.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,115 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 576,788 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,031,000 after acquiring an additional 307,018 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its stake in Cognex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,948,000 after purchasing an additional 305,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $33.97 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.69 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $31.06 and a one year high of $53.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.30.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. 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 note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

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.