Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in Cognex by 9.4% during the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $32.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $37.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.67. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $32.14 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 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. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on CGNX. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % 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 company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.