Mackenzie Financial Corp Buys 2,571,457 Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Cognex Corporation by 126.2%, now holding approximately 4.6 million shares valued at $137.51 million.
• The shares of Cognex traded down 1.1% to $34.26, with an annual market cap of $5.75 billion and a PE ratio of 50.38.
• Cognex recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 0.93% and a payout ratio of 47.06%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 126.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,571,457 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp owned approximately 2.72% of Cognex worth $137,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,256,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $80,923,000 after acquiring an additional 25,492 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 38,857 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Cognex by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,902,930 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $68,239,000 after acquiring an additional 117,089 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Cognex by 35.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,891,602 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $67,834,000 after acquiring an additional 497,341 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Melius raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.08.

Cognex Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $40.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,884,591 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,093,361. The business's 50 day moving average is $31.81 and its 200-day moving average is $31.81. The company has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.45 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $44.17.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.70 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.64%. The business's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.07%.

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.