Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Capital Fund Management S.A.

Capital Fund Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 14.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 348,597 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 57,313 shares during the quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. owned about 0.21% of Cognex worth $15,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 90.8% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,987 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $724,000 after buying an additional 7,610 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $2,108,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 81.5% in the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,673 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 10,182 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 17.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,446 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.5% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 325,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of CGNX opened at $50.99 on Thursday. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $59.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.11 and a beta of 1.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.13.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 50.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on CGNX. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 target price on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Cognex has an average 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.