Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Short Interest Down 22.5% in March

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 3,966,870 shares, a drop of 22.5% from the February 26th total of 5,121,286 shares. Currently, 2.4% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,081,111 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 3.5%

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $47.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.03 and a beta of 1.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.49 and a 200 day moving average of $43.59. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

About Cognex

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.