Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stock Bought by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC grew its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 18.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 391,428 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,768 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $23,740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. grew its stake in Cognex by 81.3% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 446 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new position in Cognex in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Cognex by 635.4% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $50.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $8.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.20 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.60 and a 52-week high of $72.88. The company’s 50 day moving average is $58.85 and its 200 day moving average is $58.09.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $313.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.62 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 16.24% and a net margin of 21.50%. Cognex’s revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be given a $0.09 dividend. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 19th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0850. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Wall Street Zen cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.50.

About Cognex