Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,154,625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 53,267 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $91,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $58,641,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $157,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $113,722,000 after acquiring an additional 598,207 shares during the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Cognex by 362.6% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 508,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,623,000 after buying an additional 398,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 24.7% during the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,576,558 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $66,878,000 after buying an additional 312,098 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.14.

Cognex Trading Up 2.0 %

Cognex stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $49.68. 808,367 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,026,335. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.28 and a fifty-two week high of $55.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.66 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.75.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The firm had revenue of $210.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.14 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Cognex Profile

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.