Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stock Holdings Lifted by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 342.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 974,865 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 754,389 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.58% of Cognex worth $44,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 188.4% during the third quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,684 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth $644,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Cognex by 454.9% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 430,404 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $19,497,000 after buying an additional 352,833 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter worth $29,385,000. Finally, Choreo LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at $214,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 3.5%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $49.45 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 73.81 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.98.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction 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 approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two 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 given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.21.

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.