Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Walter Public Investments Inc.

Walter Public Investments Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 42.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 81,555 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 59,112 shares during the period. Walter Public Investments Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $4,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,158,123,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Cognex by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,985,986 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $363,002,000 after acquiring an additional 156,108 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,660,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $130,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,434 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $161,425,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,227,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $135,085,000 after purchasing an additional 11,927 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $51.72 on Thursday. Cognex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $34.60 and a fifty-two week high of $72.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $58.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.19. The firm has a market cap of $8.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $313.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $313.62 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 21.50%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0850. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CGNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $75.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation develops machine vision products that help businesses automate the inspection, identification and measurement of manufactured goods and packages. Its offerings include vision systems, barcode readers, vision sensors and software that analyze images captured during production and logistics operations. The company’s technology is used in industries such as automotive, electronics, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and logistics. Applications include checking product quality, guiding robots and reading codes on items moving through manufacturing and distribution facilities.