Tredje AP fonden Increases Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Tredje AP fonden grew its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 560,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 31,192 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden owned 0.33% of Cognex worth $25,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $842,522,000 after acquiring an additional 374,999 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Cognex by 13.4% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $361,382,000 after acquiring an additional 949,599 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its stake in Cognex by 0.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares during the period. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,724,331 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,416,000 after buying an additional 413,088 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat and revenue beat reinforced momentum; investors are reacting to accelerating sales and profit improvements. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts are raising earnings estimates, which typically supports higher share prices as future EPS expectations improve. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Sell-side and independent outlets are upbeat: a Goldman Sachs analyst is forecasting further upside, and Zacks upgraded CGNX to a “strong-buy,” adding institutional credibility. Read More. | Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage in robotics/AI roundup pieces highlights Cognex as an overlooked beneficiary of automation tailwinds, which can attract momentum traders. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presentations at industry conferences increase investor access to guidance and strategy but do not by themselves change fundamentals. Read More. | Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary is mixed on valuation/timing — several articles ask whether buying after a ~70% rally is sensible, prompting caution among new buyers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data in the feed appears inconsistent/zeroed out and is not a reliable signal at present (no clear days-to-cover pressure).
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and recent run-up increase downside risk: CGNX trades at a high P/E and near its 52-week high, which could prompt profit-taking if growth expectations slip or macro sentiment weakens.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday. Two research 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.21.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $56.03 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.63 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.39 and a 200-day moving average of $42.13.

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. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The business’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.