Cwm LLC Grows Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Cwm LLC raised its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 50.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 85,552 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 28,653 shares during the period. Cwm LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $4,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% during 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. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in 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 worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on CGNX. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. HSBC upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.36.

Cognex Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.72 on Wednesday, reaching $37.35. The company had a trading volume of 1,677,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,361,544. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.40 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.98. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.33 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 51.72%.

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.