Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Purchased by CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC

CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 129.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $36,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Cognex by 122.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 91.5% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,031,000 after purchasing an additional 307,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,948,000 after purchasing an additional 305,913 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on CGNX. Citigroup cut their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $31.51 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.04.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Cognex 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.