AlphaCentric Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 15,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 34.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 3,375 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Cognex by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 13,871 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Cognex by 153.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,706,000 after buying an additional 81,467 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,940,000 after acquiring an additional 203,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $48.92.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $40.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.56 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.98. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a positive change 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.