Thomas Story & Son LLC Has $5.83 Million Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Thomas Story & Son LLC increased its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 143,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,915 shares during the period. Cognex makes up about 2.4% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Thomas Story & Son LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $5,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Cognex by 986.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,961 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $237,812,000 after buying an additional 1,259,116 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 41.4% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $157,659,000 after buying an additional 1,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Cognex by 132.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $59,509,000 after acquiring an additional 723,976 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $42.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a PE ratio of 82.52 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.01. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.69%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird cut 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. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $47.91.

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.