American Century Companies Inc. Has $81.68 Million Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 26.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,746,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 369,442 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 1.02% of Cognex worth $81,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Cognex by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 37,020 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,545,000 after purchasing an additional 6,404 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $56,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Cognex by 110.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,138 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 14,764 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Cognex by 237.0% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 53,049 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 37,306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 903,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $37,708,000 after acquiring an additional 168,692 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $38.67 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $42.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.25. The stock has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.67 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. Cognex’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CGNX. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.62.

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.