Eagle Asset Management Inc. Sells 453,759 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 23.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,446,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 453,759 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.84% of Cognex worth $62,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Cognex by 986.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $68,679,000 after buying an additional 1,469,961 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Cognex in the first quarter worth approximately $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 32.8% during the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $237,812,000 after buying an additional 1,259,116 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 132.0% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $59,509,000 after purchasing an additional 723,976 shares during the period. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $27,196,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex 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 owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.53. 544,662 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,269,144. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.52 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.96.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Truist Financial lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.91.

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.