Centiva Capital LP Acquires New Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,433 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $553,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $31.76. The company had a trading volume of 504,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,550,318. The firm has a market cap of $5.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.16 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. 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, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.