State of Tennessee Department of Treasury Sells 2,520 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

State of Tennessee Department of Treasury lessened its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,321 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,520 shares during the quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury owned about 0.05% of Cognex worth $3,203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $662,687,000 after purchasing an additional 296,251 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,427,000 after buying an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $136,999,000 after buying an additional 461,724 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,797,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Cognex by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,044,000 after acquiring an additional 576,788 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $26.16 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $29.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.89 and a beta of 1.56.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted 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 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 research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business 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 was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.