Lmcg Investments LLC Trims Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Lmcg Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 81,620 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 10,137 shares during the period. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.41. The stock had a trading volume of 1,460,817 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,284,564. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.39 and its 200-day moving average is $42.91. The company has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.71 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $234.74 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.86 million. Cognex had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 5.34%. As a group, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.17.

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.