ProShare Advisors LLC Trims Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

ProShare Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 8.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 18,431 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Cognex worth $8,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 276.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Stephens reissued an "equal weight" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.62.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $38.74. The company had a trading volume of 943,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,308,101. The company's 50-day moving average is $41.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.23. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.28 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. Cognex's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.