QSV Equity Investors LLC Makes New $1.30 Million Investment in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

QSV Equity Investors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 36,152 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake 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 worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group raised its holdings 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. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Cognex Stock Down 2.4 %

CGNX opened at $30.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $29.58 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

Cognex 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.