Parkside Financial Bank & Trust Sells 326 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Parkside Financial Bank & Trust trimmed its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,190 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 326 shares during the quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust’s holdings in Cognex were worth $114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $32.80 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $32.14 and a one year high of $53.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.00 and its 200 day moving average is $38.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.77 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Cognex 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.