Xponance Inc. Has $842,000 Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Xponance Inc. raised its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,472 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $842,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cognex by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $31.57 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $35.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.70. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $30.04 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.75 and a beta of 1.43.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 14th. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Cognex Profile

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.