WCM Investment Management LLC Purchases 132,991 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 49.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 402,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 132,991 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.23% of Cognex worth $17,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $239,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,842,978 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $118,666,000 after purchasing an additional 31,483 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,206,227 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $50,348,000 after purchasing an additional 99,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 13,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $1.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $40.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 786,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,743. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 60.99 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $59.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company had revenue of $196.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Cognex's revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 45.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.70.

Cognex Company 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.