Snowden Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Snowden Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 97.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 22,886 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 11,291 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $662,687,000 after acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $136,999,000 after purchasing an additional 461,724 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,256,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,797,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Cowen raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.17.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $30.99 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $28.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

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.