Covestor Ltd Cuts Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Covestor Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 28.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,976 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 784 shares during the quarter. Covestor Ltd’s holdings in Cognex were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 209,304 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,879,000 after purchasing an additional 9,748 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Cognex in the first quarter valued at about $259,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 209,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,870,000 after acquiring an additional 24,675 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 105,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,487,000 after purchasing an additional 33,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 188,607 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,001,000 after purchasing an additional 16,715 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 1.8 %

Cognex stock opened at $41.45 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.71 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.08. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Truist Financial downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.