Geneva Capital Management LLC Sells 3,748 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Geneva Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,034 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 3,748 shares during the quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,386,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,172,000 after acquiring an additional 77,146 shares during the last quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 16.1% in the third quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 143,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,829,000 after buying an additional 19,915 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in Cognex by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 90,122 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after buying an additional 10,284 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC boosted its position in Cognex by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 31,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $42.19 on Wednesday. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.74 and a 200 day moving average of $43.09. The firm has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.69%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex 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 directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.