Sciencast Management LP Purchases 39,578 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Sciencast Management LP increased its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 791.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 44,580 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 39,578 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,599,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $30.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 50.69 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $30.04 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.76.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CGNX. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.