Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Acquires 19,930 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 19,930 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $743,307,000 after buying an additional 188,485 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 153.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after buying an additional 81,467 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,940,000 after buying an additional 203,684 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 209,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,870,000 after buying an additional 24,675 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 362.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 508,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $21,623,000 after buying an additional 398,746 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research assumed coverage on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. 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 report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

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

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $40.85 on Tuesday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a PE ratio of 78.56 and a beta of 1.40. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.98.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 57.69%.

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.