Man Group plc Has $2.97 Million Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Man Group plc raised its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 27.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,910 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,758 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,973,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,797,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Cognex by 903.9% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $26,222,000 after acquiring an additional 658,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 464.6% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $28,063,000 after acquiring an additional 643,959 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

Cognex Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 276,582 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,572,142. The business's 50-day moving average price is $27.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.75. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a PE ratio of 49.76 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 47.06%.

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.