Bank of America Corp DE Sells 245,800 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Bank of America Corp DE lessened its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 45.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,475 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 245,800 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.17% of Cognex worth $10,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 95,816 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,436,000 after buying an additional 21,455 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,475,379 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $52,907,000 after acquiring an additional 566,047 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,933,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 75,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,696 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 139.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,710 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,328,000 after purchasing an additional 639,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 0.6%

CGNX opened at $29.72 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $27.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.72 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.