Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 13.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 55,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 8,451 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Cognex were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in 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 buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in Cognex by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the 2nd 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, Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 43.2% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.6 %

CGNX stock opened at $40.50 on Tuesday. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.83 and a beta of 1.41. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.21.

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. The company had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.32 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired 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 approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, August 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.62.

Cognex 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.