Dark Forest Capital Management LP Raises Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Dark Forest Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 337.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,446 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP's holdings in Cognex were worth $1,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its stake in 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 valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $26.94. 685,831 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,495,654. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.18 and a beta of 1.56. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.95 and a 200-day moving average of $35.26.

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 earnings per share (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%. On average, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other 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 value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. Citigroup cut their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 note on Monday. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.23.

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.