FORA Capital LLC Takes Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,024 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,558,000. Daventry Group LP grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Daventry Group LP now owns 540,312 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $19,376,000 after purchasing an additional 15,718 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,446,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,018 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $553,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock traded down $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.61. The stock had a trading volume of 1,805,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,550,760. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.82 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50 day moving average price is $28.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.48. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

About Cognex

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.