Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Sells $1,040,780.00 in Stock

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $41.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.87 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.89. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis 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 presently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on CGNX. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut 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 note 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in Cognex by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $211,303,000 after acquiring an additional 131,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $210,210,000 after purchasing an additional 42,882 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $187,907,000 after purchasing an additional 301,916 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in Cognex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $146,157,000 after buying an additional 175,423 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% 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.