Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 644 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 21,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 122.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,031,000 after purchasing an additional 307,018 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 305,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $31.15 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.83. The company has a market cap of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of 51.07 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $30.04 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

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.