Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Bayforest Capital Ltd

Bayforest Capital Ltd lowered its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 84.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,956 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 16,389 shares during the quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Cognex were worth $106,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $56,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.4% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $361,382,000 after purchasing an additional 949,599 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 10,861.7% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 782,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,460,000 after purchasing an additional 775,635 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 342.2% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 974,865 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,162,000 after purchasing an additional 754,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $54.03 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $52.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.47. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $24.75 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The stock has a market cap of $9.02 billion, a PE ratio of 80.64 and a beta of 1.47.

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 business earned $0.16 earnings per share. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CGNX. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.