Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Raises Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 435,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 18,838 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned 0.25% of Cognex worth $17,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 986.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,961 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 1st quarter worth about $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $237,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,116 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $157,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Cognex by 132.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $59,509,000 after purchasing an additional 723,976 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock opened at $39.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.08. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 68.16 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The business 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 company posted $0.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CGNX. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.