Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Position Raised by Front Street Capital Management Inc.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,277,673 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 93,008 shares during the quarter. Cognex makes up approximately 8.0% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc. owned 0.74% of Cognex worth $45,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group grew its holdings 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 worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.12. 956,956 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,471,715. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.18 and a beta of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $29.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.66. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on CGNX shares. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.83.

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.