Lbp Am Sa Boosts Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Lbp Am Sa increased its stake in Cognex by 48.3% in Q4 to 83,978 shares, representing about 0.05% of the company and worth roughly $3.02 million.
• Cognex beat expectations for the quarter with EPS of $0.27 versus $0.22 expected and revenue of $252.34 million (vs. $238.92 million), a 9.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" for CGNX with an average target price of $57 (1 Strong Buy, 8 Buy, 7 Hold), and top targets such as UBS's $70.

Lbp Am Sa lifted its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 83,978 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 27,353 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa owned approximately 0.05% of Cognex worth $3,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price target on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $55.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $52.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $44.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.84 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.85 and a 1 year high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.75%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.

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