Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 97.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,291 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $339,000. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at $250,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in Cognex by 6,203.0% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 12,543 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 12,344 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 198,961 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $7,135,000 after purchasing an additional 38,445 shares during the period. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 10,044 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of CGNX opened at $30.99 on Tuesday. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.18.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target 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. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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 note on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About Cognex

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.

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