Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stake Boosted by Geode Capital Management LLC

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 175,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.10% of Cognex worth $146,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 9.4% in the third quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 20.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $37.47 on Tuesday. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.80 and its 200-day moving average is $42.00. The firm has a market cap of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.06 and a beta of 1.39.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Cognex Company 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.