MQS Management LLC Invests $264,000 in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 6,517 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 19.8% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,977 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its position in Cognex by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $888,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 43.2% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 2.0 %

CGNX stock opened at $40.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.08. Cognex Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.83 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be 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 is 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.91.

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.