Jump Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 40,712 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,460,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 129.9% during 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 buying an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group raised its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during 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 buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $38,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. HSBC cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research 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 report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Up 3.9 %

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $25.95. 1,429,882 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,484,404. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.54 and a beta of 1.56. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $29.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.58. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued 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 1.23%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.