Carl Gerst Sells 6,803 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’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 value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Cognex Trading Up 1.2 %

CGNX stock opened at $33.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a PE ratio of 54.41 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $32.14 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.67.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Cognex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CGNX. HSBC cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup cut their target price on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

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.