Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Acquires 145,349 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 36.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 547,911 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,349 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned 0.33% of Cognex worth $19,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,657,000 after buying an additional 1,785,159 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $38,889,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Cognex by 286.5% in the second quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,337,608 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $42,429,000 after acquiring an additional 991,567 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Cognex by 13.4% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $361,382,000 after acquiring an additional 949,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Cognex by 43.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $137,003,000 after acquiring an additional 922,149 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $47.59 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 71.03 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $48.49 and its 200-day moving average is $43.59.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’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 value of $850,597.96. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

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.