Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stock: Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Lowers Position

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,158,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 146,294 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.69% of Cognex worth $70,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Private Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $427,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 111.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. now owns 3,910 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 2,064 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 960.4% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,916 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,641 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 130,553 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 29,034 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 9,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $602,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.76 on Friday, hitting $50.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,189,581 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,153,212. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $58.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $58.30. The company has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 34.97 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.60 and a 12-month high of $72.88.

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

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a dividend of $0.09 per share. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0850. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 23.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 10th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $80.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex has an average 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.