Kopion Asset Management LLC Has $5.87 Million Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Kopion Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 163,138 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 37,591 shares during the period. Cognex makes up about 4.2% of Kopion Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Kopion Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $5,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in Cognex by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 882,328 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $39,969,000 after acquiring an additional 201,409 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 64.6% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,453 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth approximately $348,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 8.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 73,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,782 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $50.25 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $47.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.36. The company has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.00 and a beta of 1.46.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Profile

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.