Trexquant Investment LP Raises Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 204.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 434,694 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 291,916 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.25% of Cognex worth $15,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group raised its position in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $30.01 on Wednesday. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $29.29 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.38.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

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.