M&T Bank Corp Sells 1,678 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,745 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,678 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $106,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $46.32 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $41.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.07. The stock has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.86 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $59.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The business had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. HSBC upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $49.15.

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.