Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 30,324 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 704 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 276.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research began coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $40.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.01. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $7.00 billion, a PE ratio of 70.26 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.72%.

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.