Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Bahl & Gaynor Inc.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 43.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $215,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,199,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 10,858 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $32.09 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.40. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.61 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $31.06 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex 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.