Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Short Interest Up 23.0% in November

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,370,000 shares, an increase of 23.0% from the October 31st total of 2,740,000 shares. Currently, 2.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $187,907,000 after buying an additional 301,916 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,309,827 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $61,248,000 after purchasing an additional 15,871 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Cognex by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,621,629 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,828,000 after purchasing an additional 409,502 shares in the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth $980,000. Finally, Legacy Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 15.3% in the second quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 17,625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $824,000 after buying an additional 2,344 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Up 0.9 %

Cognex stock traded up $0.35 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $40.33. 968,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,262,427. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.89 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.66.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.