HHM Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 19.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 301 shares during the quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $85,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 986.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,961 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $58,641,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.8% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $237,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,116 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 41.4% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $157,659,000 after buying an additional 1,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $38.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $6.58 billion, a PE ratio of 66.17 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $43.41 and a 200-day moving average of $43.29.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.33 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.62.

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.