Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Has $21.36 Million Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 595,533 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 47,204 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. owned 0.35% of Cognex worth $21,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $336,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $1,910,000. Premier Fund Managers Ltd increased its position in shares of Cognex by 255.1% in the third quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 24,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 17,854 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $4,545,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $31.21 on Thursday. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $30.04 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.16 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $35.86 and a 200-day moving average of $37.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 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, equities analysts forecast that Cognex Co. 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 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. HSBC cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

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.