BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $5.30 Million Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 16.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,895 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 18,404 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.08% of Cognex worth $5,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted 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 worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 276.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 43.2% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 3.8 %

CGNX stock opened at $40.67 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.91. The firm has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 78.21 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.