319,185 Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Purchased by Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC

Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 319,185 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $11,446,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Cognex as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $662,687,000 after buying an additional 296,251 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Cognex by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $136,999,000 after acquiring an additional 461,724 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $79,797,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Cognex by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the 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. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.17.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $1.83 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $31.30. 478,852 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,542,324. The company has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.39 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.53. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Cognex Company 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.