ING Groep NV Makes New Investment in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Key Points

• ING Groep NV acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation, purchasing 743,900 shares valued at approximately $22.19 million, representing about 0.44% of the company.
• Recent analyst ratings for Cognex have been mixed, with several upgrades including a shift from "hold" to "buy" by Melius and TD Cowen, while Goldman Sachs maintains a "sell" rating with a targeted price increase.
• Cognex reported earnings of $0.25 per share for the last quarter, beating estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, indicating a yield of 0.8%.

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 743,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $22,191,000. ING Groep NV owned approximately 0.44% of Cognex as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 75,575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,710,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 7.4% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 155.3% during the first 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 period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. raised 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 acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Cowen raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.08.

Cognex Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $40.47 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.00 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $44.17. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $32.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.75.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.70 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.23 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

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