Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Short Interest Update

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the September 15th total of 4,220,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,190,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company's shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.00.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.18. 1,255,566 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,703. Cognex has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.04. The company has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.43 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Cognex's payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 293,782 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $11,446,000 after acquiring an additional 26,559 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its position in Cognex by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,700,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $68,850,000 after buying an additional 300,000 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Cognex by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in Cognex by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 435,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $17,628,000 after buying an additional 18,838 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covea Finance grew its position in Cognex by 25.0% in the 3rd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 47,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,924,000 after buying an additional 9,500 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.