Nebula Research & Development LLC Takes $453,000 Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,630 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

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

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.83. 1,775,830 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,528,142. The company has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 45.62 and a beta of 1.45. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.95. 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 issued 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, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.25.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.