Comerica Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Comerica Bank cut its stake in Cognex by 47.4%, selling 61,179 shares and leaving 67,957 shares valued at about $2.445 million at the end of the quarter.
• Cognex beat Q4 estimates (EPS $0.27 vs. $0.22; revenue $252.34M, +9.9% YoY), the stock rose ~4.5%, and several analysts raised price targets, leaving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $59.50 target.
• Insider and institutional activity: insiders sold 196,083 shares (~$11.42M) in the last 90 days while institutions own ~88% of the stock, and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.085 (annualized $0.34, ~0.6% yield).

Comerica Bank reduced its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 47.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 67,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 61,179 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,445,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Up 4.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $58.83 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $27.61 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $52.39 and a 200-day moving average of $44.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.83 billion, a PE ratio of 87.81 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.50.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex 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 owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.

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.