New York Life Investment Management LLC Acquires New Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

New York Life Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Cognex by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 0.9 %

Cognex stock opened at $46.32 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.07. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $59.51. The company has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.86 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $50.00 price target (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $49.15.

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.