Kazazian Asset Management LLC Invests $737,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Kazazian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 20,564 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $737,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 23,472 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $842,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,221 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after acquiring an additional 3,767 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. Twin Tree Management LP acquired a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $225,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 15,057 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 574 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $32.34 on Wednesday. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a PE ratio of 53.02 and a beta of 1.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.93.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.