Creative Planning Acquires 512 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Creative Planning grew its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 512 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Cognex were worth $888,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted 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 buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 43.2% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 19.8% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.41 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.91. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.21 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $234.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.86 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

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.