Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stake Cut by AXQ Capital LP

AXQ Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,680 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 7,237 shares during the quarter. AXQ Capital LP’s holdings in Cognex were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 261.7% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 209,723 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,521,000 after purchasing an additional 151,739 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 791.2% during the 4th quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 44,580 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,599,000 after buying an additional 39,578 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $1,153,000. Kazazian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth $737,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 23,472 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $31.57 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.50 and its 200-day moving average is $37.70. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.75 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results 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, equities analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

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.