Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires 151,739 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 261.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,723 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 151,739 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP owned 0.12% of Cognex worth $7,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Cognex by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $210,210,000 after buying an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in shares of Cognex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $146,157,000 after buying an additional 175,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 122.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $114,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.28. The stock had a trading volume of 1,336,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,631. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $30.04 and a one year high of $53.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.28 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Cognex

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.