Truist Financial Corp Increases Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 106,743 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,976 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.06% of Cognex worth $4,455,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 71.8% in the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew 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 purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 18.8% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,859 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Stephens increased their target price on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $44.49. 1,065,291 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,466,318. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $40.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.96. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $59.51. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.71 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Cognex's quarterly revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Cognex's payout ratio is 51.72%.

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.