Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $477,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 13,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $477,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group grew its stake in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.30 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.92. The company had a trading volume of 644,989 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,549. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.33 and a beta of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.48. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Insider Activity

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

Cognex Company 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.