Postrock Partners LLC Invests $348,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Postrock Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 9,694 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $211,303,000 after purchasing an additional 131,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Cognex by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $210,210,000 after buying an additional 42,882 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its position in Cognex by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $146,157,000 after buying an additional 175,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $30.26 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.04 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.61 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.11.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CGNX. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. UBS Group cut their price target on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.83.

About Cognex

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.