Private Advisor Group LLC Invests $283,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,990 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Cognex by 986.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,961 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Cognex during the first quarter valued at $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in Cognex by 32.8% during the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $237,812,000 after buying an additional 1,259,116 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $157,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 132.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,509,000 after acquiring an additional 723,976 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $42.60 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 81.92 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.99. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. 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 0.75%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.