48,413 Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX Purchased by Fox Run Management L.L.C.

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 48,413 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,193,000. Cognex makes up 0.3% of Fox Run Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 288,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $13,068,000 after acquiring an additional 20,064 shares during the period. Compound Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 28.0% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,950 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the last quarter. Nkcfo LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter worth $1,178,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $57.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 86.39 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $42.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.37. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of Cognex 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 transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last 90 days. 1.60% 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.