Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,850 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 559 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Cognex by 986.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,961 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $58,641,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Cognex during the first quarter worth $58,502,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 41.4% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $157,659,000 after buying an additional 1,088,095 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 29.0% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $113,722,000 after buying an additional 598,207 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.62.

Cognex Trading Down 1.2 %

CGNX opened at $38.48 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.24. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.34 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.