Capital Fund Management S.A. Acquires 37,994 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Capital Fund Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 95.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 37,994 shares during the period. Capital Fund Management S.A.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cognex by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Up 0.9 %

Cognex stock traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.77. 4,864,589 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,446,438. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 38.97 and a beta of 1.56. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $30.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.85.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.83.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.