Petrus Trust Company LTA Makes New Investment in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired 24,727 shares of Cognex Corporation, valued at approximately $738,000, during the first quarter of 2023.
• Cognex reported a quarterly EPS of $0.25, exceeding expectations, with a revenue of $249.09 million, marking a 4.2% increase from the previous year.
• Institutional investors now own 88.12% of Cognex's stock, highlighting strong interest and investment from large financial entities.

Petrus Trust Company LTA acquired a new position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,727 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Cognex by 82.6% in the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $386,190. This trade represents a 18.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Melius raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.31.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX traded up $0.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $44.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,125,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,905. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.33 and a 200-day moving average of $32.88. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $45.23. The stock has a market cap of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 63.31 and a beta of 1.50.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.70 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.07%.

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.