Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. Has $5.79 Million Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 83.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,857 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,267 shares during the quarter. Crawford Investment Counsel Inc. owned about 0.08% of Cognex worth $5,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $47.98 on Monday. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 71.61 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $46.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.18.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, February 12th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.77.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.