Numerai GP LLC Purchases 51,399 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Numerai GP LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 637.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 59,465 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,399 shares during the period. Numerai GP LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock opened at $31.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.82 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $28.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. HSBC downgraded 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, Truist Financial cut their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.17.

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.