Squarepoint Ops LLC Has $856,000 Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Squarepoint Ops LLC reduced its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,298 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 178,493 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Cognex Stock Up 0.6 %

Cognex stock traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.69. 651,377 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,285,237. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.43 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.28 and a fifty-two week 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.33 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. Cognex's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 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, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company's stock, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.