Millennium Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 464.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 782,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 643,959 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Cognex worth $28,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $80,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,492 shares during the period. LRT Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 64.3% during the fourth quarter. LRT Capital Management LLC now owns 84,703 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,037,000 after buying an additional 33,150 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 20.4% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 27,175 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 4,606 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $270,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $503,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.72. 2,310,420 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,577,909. The company has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.72 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.86.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex 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.