Sender Co & Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 20,402 Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Sender Co & Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,402 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $732,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $51,199,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 75.1% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Cognex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 337,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $12,096,000 after buying an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $267,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $1,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.17.

Cognex Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $30.34. The stock had a trading volume of 861,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,563,766. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.13. Cognex Co. has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

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.