Values First Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Values First Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 479 shares during the quarter. Values First Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter worth $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2 %

Cognex stock opened at $38.69 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.71 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.96. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Vertical Research initiated 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. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Cognex Company 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.