Comerica Bank Sells 33,853 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Comerica Bank lowered its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 36.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,709 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 33,853 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 3.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 42,292 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 337,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, Covea Finance lifted its holdings in Cognex by 54.7% during the 4th quarter. Covea Finance now owns 73,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,636,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $29.47 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 48.31 and a beta of 1.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $28.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.59.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its 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 analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Cognex Company 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.