Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Purchased by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 653.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 59,785 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 51,852 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position 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 worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,042,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Cognex by 41.5% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 42,905 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,539,000 after purchasing an additional 12,581 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of several research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on 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 research note on Friday, February 14th. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, 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 transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $33.10. 793,128 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,406,153. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.21 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $32.14 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock's 50 day moving average is $37.25 and its 200-day moving average is $38.72.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio 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.