Riverbridge Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Riverbridge Partners LLC lessened its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 14.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 867,063 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 145,594 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned about 0.52% of Cognex worth $31,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Cognex by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the first quarter worth $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 24.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Cognex by 7.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $49.33 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $48.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.57. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market capitalization of $8.24 billion, a PE ratio of 73.63 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex 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.