QSV Equity Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 36,152 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.83.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Cognex
Cognex Price Performance
NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $30.72. 570,114 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,267,230. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.36 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $29.29 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The firm's 50-day moving average is $34.42 and its 200-day moving average is $37.38.
Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Equities research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Cognex Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Cognex's payout ratio is 52.46%.
Insider Activity at Cognex
In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Cognex Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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