Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases New Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 20,770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at about $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $114,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,562,115 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $209,427,000 after buying an additional 1,253,996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $75,044,000 after buying an additional 576,788 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded 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 issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

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Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Down 1.3 %

CGNX stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $24.62. The company had a trading volume of 863,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,290. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.14. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $23.13 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92 and a beta of 1.56.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Cognex Company 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.