Insider Selling: Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) CTO Sells 2,934 Shares of Stock

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock opened at $37.47 on Tuesday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.06 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.00.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in Cognex by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 4,055 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $164,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in 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 valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 20.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 457 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Truist Financial downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.