Atria Investments Inc Lowers Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Atria Investments Inc reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,270 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc’s holdings in Cognex were worth $355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $31.51 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.04. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.