42,070 Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Bought by Edgestream Partners L.P.

Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 42,070 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,509,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% in 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in Cognex by 9.4% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $164,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.87 on Wednesday, hitting $31.30. 934,534 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,488,098. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a PE ratio of 51.37 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.21. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $31.06 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 52.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered 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 cut Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. HSBC lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average 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.