Headlands Technologies LLC Makes New Investment in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 20,770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $745,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in 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 during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.8% in the fourth 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 grew its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $30.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of 50.15 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s fifty day moving average is $34.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.33. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $29.28 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

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.