Xponance Inc. Sells 3,397 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Xponance Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 22,383 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,397 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 276.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.27 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a PE ratio of 69.43 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The business had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.62.

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.