Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lowered its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 48.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,552 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 10,825 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Cognex were worth $482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter worth $208,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $39.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.29 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $59.51. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.35 and a 200 day moving average of $38.81.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The company’s revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 45.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CGNX shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial began coverage on Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com cut Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.