Park Avenue Securities LLC Increases Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,868 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 1,567 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $324,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Cognex by 105.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the first quarter valued at $54,000. Kopion Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 28.2% during the first quarter. Kopion Asset Management LLC now owns 244,302 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,288,000 after acquiring an additional 53,684 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 7,515.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,679 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 31,263 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 56.9% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after buying an additional 10,458 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $30.15 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a PE ratio of 49.43 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.25 and a 200-day moving average of $32.80.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

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.