Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,410,000 shares, an increase of 9.7% from the January 15th total of 4,020,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $33.20. 3,008,053 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,064,675. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.85 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $32.41 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.28% and a net margin of 10.10%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

Cognex Company 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.