Amalgamated Bank Sells 4,896 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Amalgamated Bank reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,005 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 4,896 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth about $608,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Cognex by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $211,303,000 after acquiring an additional 131,560 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Cognex by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 99,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,858,000 after acquiring an additional 28,161 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,210 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $899,000 after acquiring an additional 1,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 40.0% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 69,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 19,930 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $42.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.52 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.04.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

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.