Tredje AP fonden Takes $6.18 Million Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Tredje AP fonden purchased a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 132,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,182,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,641,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $237,812,000 after purchasing an additional 1,259,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 41.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,088,095 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. 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 research note on Monday, August 5th. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.62.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

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

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $38.48 on Thursday. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.34 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $42.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.24.

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 analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.