Quest Partners LLC Takes $336,000 Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 8,307 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CGNX. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at $55,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 19.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $41.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average of $42.89. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 78.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm’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 value 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. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on CGNX. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.91.

Cognex Company 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.