Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Purchases 32,014 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 467,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,014 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC owned about 0.27% of Cognex worth $16,756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Clean Yield Group increased its position in Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s 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 sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on 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 raised their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.92.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $40.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.35. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.75 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Cognex Company 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.