Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Ceredex Value Advisors LLC

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 116.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 789,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 423,950 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $31,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 19.8% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its position in Cognex by 18.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $588,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in Cognex by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Cognex Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $40.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.71 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.91.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $234.74 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $229.86 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 10.10%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.