Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Position Boosted by Paloma Partners Management Co

Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1,537.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,712 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 170,612 shares during the period. Paloma Partners Management Co owned 0.11% of Cognex worth $7,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Cognex by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Cognex by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered shares of 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 note on Tuesday, November 5th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $39.98 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.66. 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 $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now 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. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.