Trexquant Investment LP Grows Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Trexquant Investment LP grew its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 204.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 434,694 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 291,916 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned approximately 0.25% of Cognex worth $15,588,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,596 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $306,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP grew its stake in Cognex by 80.0% in the third quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 172,618 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $6,991,000 after acquiring an additional 76,738 shares during the period. Finally, Needham Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC now owns 247,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $10,024,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Cognex Trading Down 7.6 %

CGNX traded down $2.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.95. 3,264,537 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,291,756. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.15. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $24.48 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $4.23 billion, a PE ratio of 40.90 and a beta of 1.56.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Cognex's payout ratio is 52.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the 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 represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.