57,984 Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Acquired by Quantbot Technologies LP

Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 57,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,348,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% during 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 buying an additional 301,916 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $61,248,000 after acquiring an additional 15,871 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Cognex by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,621,629 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,828,000 after acquiring an additional 409,502 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at about $980,000. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised shares of 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 note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research 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, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.91.

Cognex Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $40.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 77.14 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.77.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Cognex’s payout ratio 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.