Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 276,456 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 450.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,846 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 276,456 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Cognex worth $12,115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twinbeech Capital LP bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,000. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $1,136,000. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $826,000. State of Wyoming boosted its stake in Cognex by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 29,619 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 4,652 shares during the period. Finally, Sender Co & Partners Inc. bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $732,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup dropped their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Cognex Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.29 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $30.44. 320,956 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,208,284. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $27.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.75. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.89 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.06%.

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.