Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,301 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Clean Yield Group grew its holdings in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CGNX. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.92.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $40.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.98 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.31.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.