Inspire Investing LLC Trims Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Inspire Investing LLC lowered its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 65.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,209 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 19,320 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Cognex by 94.4% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its stake in Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $40.18 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.02. The company has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 69.28 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $53.13.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were paid a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

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.