Marshall Financial Group LLC Takes $851,000 Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 23,657 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $851,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Cognex by 13.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 1st quarter valued at about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 121.5% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,990 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 7,126 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $50.80 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $8.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.82 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.43. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.085 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.75%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

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.