Advisors Asset Management Inc. Acquires 394 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 123.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $29,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $187,907,000 after purchasing an additional 301,916 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,309,827 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,248,000 after acquiring an additional 15,871 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,621,629 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $75,828,000 after acquiring an additional 409,502 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter worth $980,000. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 15.3% in the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 17,625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $39.98 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $40.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.69. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 76.88 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.