QSV Equity Investors LLC Makes New Investment in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

QSV Equity Investors 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 fund bought 36,152 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its position in Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $30.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.84 and a 200 day moving average of $37.51. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $29.58 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.07%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on CGNX. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

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.