Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Makes New $504,000 Investment in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 13,997 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $504,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 23,326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Cognex by 7.5% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 0.7%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $49.34 on Thursday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $59.88. The company has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.64 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.97 and a 200-day moving average of $43.66.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Cognex 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.