Riverbridge Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 867,063 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 145,594 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $31,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 477,658 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $17,186,000 after purchasing an additional 76,540 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Cognex by 1,917.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 290,024 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 275,646 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $851,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 60,942 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,352,000 after buying an additional 2,819 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $292,224,000 after buying an additional 76,212 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 4.4%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $49.33 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.63 and a beta of 1.46. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.57. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 50.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.