Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 296,251 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.77% of Cognex worth $662,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $30.01 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $29.58 and a one year high of $53.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.50. The company has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CGNX. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

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.