Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Acquired by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 38.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,386 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,084 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Cognex by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 6.9 %

Shares of CGNX opened at $42.60 on Thursday. 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 $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.92 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.99.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.