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

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex 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 directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cognex Stock Down 0.1 %

CGNX stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.81. 1,300,270 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,420,928. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $32.14 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $37.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.72.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.6% during the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in Cognex by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $211,303,000 after buying an additional 131,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 buying an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $136,999,000 after acquiring an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.