Nkcfo LLC Purchases New Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Nkcfo LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 12,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the firm’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 acquisition, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $39.74 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.22. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.82 billion, a PE ratio of 68.52 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.62.

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.