Picton Mahoney Asset Management Invests $5.17 Million in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 114,186 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,171,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in Cognex by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 10.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in Cognex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 8.1% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,021 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $53.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.36 and a beta of 1.46. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $44.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.87.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on CGNX shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.21.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.