CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Cuts Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lessened its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,577,270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 8,126 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Cognex were worth $56,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $23.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97 and a beta of 1.56. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.36 and a 200 day moving average of $36.01. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

About Cognex

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.