Nebula Research & Development LLC Makes New Investment in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Nebula Research & Development LLC bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 12,630 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,797,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 903.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,222,000 after purchasing an additional 658,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 38.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,044,000 after purchasing an additional 576,788 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.23.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $26.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a PE ratio of 43.94 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.82 and its 200 day moving average is $35.20. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Research analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

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.