Citigroup Inc. Has $1.77 Million Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 80.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 39,009 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 158,866 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s 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 directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.64.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX stock opened at $50.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.85 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $59.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.26 and a 200-day moving average of $43.03.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.75%.

Cognex Company 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.