Robeco Schweiz AG Cuts Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Robeco Schweiz AG lessened its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 239,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 11,000 shares during the period. Robeco Schweiz AG owned about 0.14% of Cognex worth $8,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,115 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Cognex by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognex by 116.0% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 789,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $31,977,000 after buying an additional 423,950 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,031,000 after buying an additional 307,018 shares during the period. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $33.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.41 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $37.18 and a 200 day moving average of $38.67. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $32.14 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Equities analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

Cognex Company 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.