Jennison Associates LLC Sells 89,716 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,017,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 89,716 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $41,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Premier Fund Managers Ltd lifted its position in Cognex by 255.1% in the 3rd quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 24,854 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 17,854 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $1,910,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $336,000. AM Squared Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 4,566.7% during the third quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 2,100 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royce & Associates LP raised its position in Cognex by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,384,341 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $56,066,000 after buying an additional 19,774 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $39.27 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a PE ratio of 75.52 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.98.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

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.