Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 23.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,611,602 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 308,687 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned 0.96% of Cognex worth $73,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $842,522,000 after buying an additional 374,999 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Cognex by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $361,382,000 after buying an additional 949,599 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,003,000 after acquiring an additional 922,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 17.9% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,724,331 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,416,000 after acquiring an additional 413,088 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 target price (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.77.

Cognex Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $47.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.61 and a beta of 1.46. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $59.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $46.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.19.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.75%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.