Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lowered its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 438 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Cognex by 4.2% during the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,514 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Cognex by 18.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Cognex Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.31 and a 200 day moving average of $43.01. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.26 and a beta of 1.41.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.72%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.