Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,386,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,146 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $56,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Thomas Story & Son LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $5,829,000 after acquiring an additional 19,915 shares during the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 12.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,284 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the period. Olympiad Research LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $632,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $608,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This represents a ? increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $39.61 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.17 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.05.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is 57.69%.

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.