Insider Selling: Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Sells $1,040,780.00 in Stock

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $40.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.39 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.81.

Cognex Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 276.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

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.