Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 47.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,201 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd 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 bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.92.

Cognex Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $38.66 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $38.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.60. The company has a market cap of $6.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.35 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $34.98 and a 12 month high of $53.13.

Cognex 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.