Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. Sells 5,600 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lessened its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 3.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,540 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 5,600 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Cognex worth $6,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2.6% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $211,303,000 after purchasing an additional 131,560 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $187,907,000 after acquiring an additional 301,916 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,445,894 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $161,130,000 after acquiring an additional 49,026 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 30.5% during the 2nd quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 2,056,701 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $96,171,000 after acquiring an additional 480,143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Copeland Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 10.2% in the third quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC now owns 1,767,426 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $71,581,000 after purchasing an additional 162,965 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. One 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, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $39.98 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $40.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.40.

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 represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.