Virtu Financial LLC Sells 12,235 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Virtu Financial LLC trimmed its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 62.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 12,235 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised 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 purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth 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. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $30.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $29.58 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released 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 return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.