Versor Investments LP Takes $348,000 Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Clean Yield Group raised its position in Cognex by 1,686.7% in 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 buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,126,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,503,140. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $31.06 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.44. The firm has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.61 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.