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

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

Cognex Stock Down 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $40.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.03 and its 200-day moving average is $42.85. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.38 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in 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 Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 276.1% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Cognex Company 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.