Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. cut its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 229,620 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 11,349 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $8,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Cognex by 0.8% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 305,913 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Cognex by 5.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 175,423 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX stock opened at $30.01 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $29.58 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.50.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC decreased 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus 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.