Numerai GP LLC Increases Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Numerai GP LLC raised its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 637.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,465 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 51,399 shares during the quarter. Numerai GP LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.17.

Cognex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.58. 1,607,092 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,181. The business's fifty day moving average is $28.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.33. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.