Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Buys 307,018 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

28 Nov 2024, 15:21 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX – Free Report) by 91.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 642,737 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 307,018 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $26,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third 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 last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 20.1% in 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 buying an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 9.6% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 5,443 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded down $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $40.11. 785,418 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,267,347. The company has a market cap of $6.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.14 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.79. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report 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 report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Read Our Latest Report on CGNX

About Cognex

(Free Report)

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.