Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,241,656 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 38,113 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned 0.72% of Cognex worth $58,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% during the 1st 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. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $39.74 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.24. The stock has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 68.52 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on CGNX shares. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.