Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Tower Research Capital LLC TRC

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 520.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,261 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,348 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Cognex were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 50.2% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,678,007 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,511,338. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.94 and a beta of 1.56. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $28.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.26. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased 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, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.23.

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.