Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 4,818 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Geneva Capital Management LLC cut its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 85,332 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,818 shares during the period. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Cognex by 92.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,993 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after buying an additional 13,906 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in Cognex by 4.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,700,000 after buying an additional 11,400 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 8.3% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 171,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after buying an additional 13,213 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $967,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $46.66. 99,132 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,446,973. The firm has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.17 and a beta of 1.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.13. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $59.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $196.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company’s revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.15.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.