Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes $202,000 Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,325 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 276.1% in 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 buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $39.74 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $41.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.24. The firm has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.52 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. Cognex’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.62.

About Cognex

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.