Gotham Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,175 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,606 shares during the quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,199,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cognex by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank raised its position in Cognex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 337,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at $267,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at $1,215,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $31.58 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.29.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Cognex Company 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.