Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Has $11.44 Million Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 24.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 282,400 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 92,800 shares during the period. Cognex accounts for approximately 2.0% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd owned approximately 0.16% of Cognex worth $11,437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Cognex by 276.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $42.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average of $43.04. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 82.52 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

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.