Wolverine Trading LLC Takes Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Wolverine Trading LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,697 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $270,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 19.8% in the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 20.1% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $111,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.91.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $37.08 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.80 and its 200-day moving average is $42.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.36 billion, a PE ratio of 71.31 and a beta of 1.39. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 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.