Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Short Interest Update

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,740,000 shares, a decrease of 28.6% from the October 15th total of 3,840,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,110,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 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 purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 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 acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CGNX. Truist Financial cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.92 on Friday, reaching $39.61. 911,416 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,277,298. Cognex has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.17 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.05.

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 paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.69%.

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.