Eagle Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,446,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 453,759 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned 0.84% of Cognex worth $62,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,385,464 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,111,000 after buying an additional 17,701 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 16.4% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 130,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,301,000 after acquiring an additional 18,404 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 20.1% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,545,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $39.27 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.98. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.52 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of 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 given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.