Baillie Gifford & Co. Cuts Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. cut its stake in Cognex by 82.8% in Q4, selling 834,845 shares and retaining 173,538 shares worth about $6.24 million (≈0.10% of the company).
• Q4 results beat expectations: EPS $0.27 vs. $0.22 and revenue $252.34M (up 9.9% YoY); the stock carries a market cap of $9.28B and a high P/E of 82.96.
• Insiders have sold 196,083 shares (~$11.42M) in the last 90 days, including a 177,052-share sale by a director, while institutional ownership remains elevated at 88.12%.

Baillie Gifford & Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 82.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 834,845 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned about 0.10% of Cognex worth $6,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 30,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,564 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $155,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 70,478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 9,111 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $753,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $55.58 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.85 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.96 and a beta of 1.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $51.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.08.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 in the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $57.00.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.

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