NEOS Investment Management LLC Acquires 10,880 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 254,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,880 shares during the period. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $11,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 12.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Cognex by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $662,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in Cognex by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 4,021 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $128,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated 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. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $57.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a PE ratio of 85.21 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.83.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.73.

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.