Raymond James Trust N.A. Increases Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 95.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,918 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 15,090 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,385,464 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $56,111,000 after buying an additional 17,701 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 16.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 130,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $5,301,000 after purchasing an additional 18,404 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter worth about $4,545,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Cognex stock traded up $0.86 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $41.53. 1,150,062 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,271,065. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.21 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average of $42.89.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.91.

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.