Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,385,464 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,701 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.81% of Cognex worth $56,111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 88.7% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,463 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $402,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its stake in Cognex by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 104,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $4,428,000 after buying an additional 6,218 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 276.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cognex by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 49,770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,327,000 after buying an additional 16,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 50.4% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 85,552 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $4,000,000 after buying an additional 28,653 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. DA Davidson cut their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $47.91.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.3 %

Cognex stock traded down $0.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.98. The company had a trading volume of 484,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,031,202. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The company's fifty day moving average is $40.09 and its 200-day moving average is $42.69. The company has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.54%.

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.