BNP Paribas Financial Markets Reduces Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

BNP Paribas Financial Markets decreased its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 37.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 74,361 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 44,650 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets’ holdings in Cognex were worth $3,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in Cognex by 32.8% in 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 buying an additional 1,259,116 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $59,509,000 after acquiring an additional 723,976 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,196,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew 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 worth $96,171,000 after purchasing an additional 480,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 worth $31,977,000 after purchasing an additional 423,950 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $37.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.35 and a beta of 1.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $40.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.49. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped 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 research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.