24,727 Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX Acquired by Petrus Trust Company LTA

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 purchased a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 24,727 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $738,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Cognex by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $137,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571,457 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $181,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,832 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 16,472.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 819,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $24,432,000 after purchasing an additional 814,086 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Cognex in the first quarter worth about $22,191,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Cognex by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,539,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $75,756,000 after buying an additional 647,955 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.04 on Wednesday, hitting $44.40. 1,499,584 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,856,122. The company has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 76.48 and a beta of 1.50. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $45.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.88.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp raised Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $90,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.