Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Buys 79,266 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,507,022 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 79,266 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.90% of Cognex worth $44,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 126.2% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571,457 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 16,472.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 819,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $24,432,000 after purchasing an additional 814,086 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter valued at $22,191,000. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Cognex by 464.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,063,000 after acquiring an additional 643,959 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Cognex by 139.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,710 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,328,000 after acquiring an additional 639,258 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of CGNX opened at $42.70 on Monday. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $44.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.89. The stock has a market cap of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.14 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp upgraded Cognex from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.31.

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.