Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,784,239 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 87,790 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.04% of Cognex worth $72,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Cognex by 32.8% in the second quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $237,812,000 after acquiring an additional 1,259,116 shares in the last quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 116.0% in the third quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 789,550 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $31,977,000 after acquiring an additional 423,950 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,621,629 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $75,828,000 after purchasing an additional 409,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 26.8% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,746,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $81,680,000 after purchasing an additional 369,442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.25. 655,954 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 666,827. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $38.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a PE ratio of 69.71 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This is a boost from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. Cognex's payout ratio is 61.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $47.92.

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.