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

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 5,100,000 shares, a growth of 17.2% from the February 13th total of 4,350,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 28,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,034,000 after acquiring an additional 10,458 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $117,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,038,345 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,095,000 after acquiring an additional 177,324 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $124,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of CGNX stock traded down $1.54 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.80. 1,144,881 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,183,297. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.93. Cognex has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.41 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on CGNX. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.83.

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.