Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Lowers Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,923 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 644 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Cognex by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Cognex by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,044,000 after buying an additional 576,788 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Cognex by 91.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,031,000 after buying an additional 307,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in Cognex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $31.15 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.83. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.07 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted 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%. As a group, research analysts expect 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 issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

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 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 owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

About Cognex

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.