GW&K Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

GW&K Investment Management LLC lessened its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,635,853 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 17,736 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $58,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CGNX. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in Cognex by 2.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $211,303,000 after buying an additional 131,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $210,210,000 after acquiring an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $151,948,000 after acquiring an additional 305,913 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $146,157,000 after acquiring an additional 175,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,562,115 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $32.71 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $32.14 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.64. The company has a market capitalization of $5.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.62 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.