Semanteon Capital Management LP Takes $1.20 Million Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Semanteon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in 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 (SEC). The firm bought 28,761 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,200,000. Cognex makes up approximately 0.8% of Semanteon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,437 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Cognex by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $115,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP lifted its holdings in Cognex by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 52,102 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 8,845 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in Cognex by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 30,200 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Finally, AIA Group Ltd lifted its holdings in Cognex by 36.9% during the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 57,839 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,414,000 after acquiring an additional 15,583 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $39.79. The company had a trading volume of 568,240 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,479,200. The company has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.29 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.28 and a 1 year high of $59.51. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.81.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.86% and a net margin of 13.52%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. Cognex's payout ratio is 45.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Cognex from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.70.

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.

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