Lbp Am Sa Invests $407,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Lbp Am Sa purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 11,353 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $407,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock opened at $31.51 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.04. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a PE ratio of 51.66 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.