GAMMA Investing LLC Increases Position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 155.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $32,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 75,575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,710,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex by 4.0% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $34.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.04. The stock has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.50 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Melius upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.77.

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.