Paloma Partners Management Co Purchases 170,612 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Paloma Partners Management Co grew its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1,537.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,712 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after buying an additional 170,612 shares during the quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co owned 0.11% of Cognex worth $7,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.13 on Monday, hitting $39.98. 484,289 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,263,957. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $40.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.66. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.80%. This is a positive change from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $47.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, 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 link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.