Stephens Investment Management Group LLC Sells 13,049 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Stephens Investment Management Group LLC cut its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,030,563 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 13,049 shares during the period. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC owned 0.60% of Cognex worth $41,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Cognex by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $179,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Cognex by 18.7% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 3.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $588,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $40.23 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.28 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.38 and a 200-day moving average of $42.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.37 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $234.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.86 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 10.10%. Equities analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 57.69%.

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.