Tudor Investment Corp ET AL Increases Stake in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Tudor Investment Corp ET AL increased its stake in Cognex by 29.6% in the third quarter, buying 201,409 shares to hold 882,328 shares (about 0.53% of the company) valued at roughly $39.97 million.
• Insiders sold 196,083 shares over the past 90 days worth ~$11.42 million (including Director Robert Willett's sale of 177,052 shares), leaving company insiders with about 1.60% ownership.
• Cognex's recent quarter beat estimates, reporting $0.27 EPS vs. $0.22 expected and $252.34 million in revenue vs. $238.92 million, with revenue up 9.9% year-over-year.

Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 882,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 201,409 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL owned approximately 0.53% of Cognex worth $39,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 13.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in Cognex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Cognex by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $50.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.00 and a beta of 1.46. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.29 and a 200 day moving average of $43.36.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.Cognex's revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 target price on Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $57.00.

Cognex Company Profile

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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