Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires New Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 356,800 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,795,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.21% of Cognex as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Cognex Trading Down 1.8 %

Cognex stock opened at $24.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.34 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.21. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.