Handelsbanken Fonder AB Purchases 352,833 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 454.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 430,404 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 352,833 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Cognex were worth $19,497,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter worth $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 16,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,618.76. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on CGNX. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.21.

Cognex Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $54.40 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $59.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 81.20 and a beta of 1.53.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Cognex Company Profile

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.