Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $13.07 Million Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,064 shares during the quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT owned 0.17% of Cognex worth $13,068,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $220,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 28.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 25.7% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $392,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% 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. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $57.88 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.59 billion, a PE ratio of 86.39 and a beta of 1.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.24 and a 200-day moving average of $42.37. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CGNX shares. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.