Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Buys Shares of 7,699 Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL purchased a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 7,699 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $56,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on CGNX. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.62.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $38.25 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.32. The company has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 65.95 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

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.