Peregrine Investment Management Inc. Takes $8.04 Million Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 224,270 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $8,042,000. Cognex comprises about 4.7% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Cognex as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.60 on Wednesday, hitting $33.64. The stock had a trading volume of 1,909,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,395,049. The business has a 50 day moving average of $37.69 and a 200 day moving average of $38.88. The stock has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.15 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $32.41 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 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%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. 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 note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.42.

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.