Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio cut its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 52.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,119 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 91,893 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio owned 0.05% of Cognex worth $3,027,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 18,810.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $56,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $252,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $361,382,000 after purchasing an additional 949,599 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Cognex by 10,861.7% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 782,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,460,000 after buying an additional 775,635 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Up 4.5%

Shares of CGNX opened at $58.83 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $27.61 and a 12-month high of $59.88. The stock has a market cap of $9.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.81 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $52.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $44.95.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.50.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CGNX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.