48,300 Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Acquired by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 48,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec bought a new stake in Cognex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Cognex by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $39.21 on Thursday. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $59.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.73 billion, a PE ratio of 59.41 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $196.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 45.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Cognex in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com cut Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.70.

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.