T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,529,937 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,607,487 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,529,937 shares during the quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned about 2.69% of Cognex worth $165,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.23.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.98. The company's stock had a trading volume of 754,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,495,940. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.16 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $28.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.26. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.