Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 468 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 71.8% in the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $46.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.62 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $59.51. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.54.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $210.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.14 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. HSBC raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.15.

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.