Needham Investment Management LLC Buys 18,000 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Needham Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 247,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $10,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 32.8% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 1,259,116 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Cognex by 132.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $59,509,000 after purchasing an additional 723,976 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd acquired a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth approximately $27,196,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 30.5% in the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 2,056,701 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $96,171,000 after buying an additional 480,143 shares during the period. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 116.0% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 789,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $31,977,000 after buying an additional 423,950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 2.6 %

Cognex stock traded down $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.28. The stock had a trading volume of 168,169 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,257,891. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.61. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.56 and a beta of 1.39.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This is an increase 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 yield of 0.81%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Cognex 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.