AIA Group Ltd Has $2.23 Million Position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Key Points

• AIA Group Ltd reduced its stake in Cognex Corporation by 13.3% during the first quarter, now holding 74,870 shares worth $2,233,000.
• Analyst ratings for Cognex vary significantly, with price targets ranging from $30.00 to $60.00, reflecting a general consensus rating of Moderate Buy.
• Cognex recently announced a $0.08 quarterly dividend, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%, with the payout scheduled for August 28th.

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 74,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 11,521 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,233,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 439.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Cognex by 155.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Cognex by 105.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CGNX. Melius upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.31.

Cognex Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.82 on Friday, reaching $42.70. 1,964,257 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,390,650. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $44.38. The company has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.14 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.60 and a 200 day moving average of $32.00.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%. The company had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

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.