First Horizon Advisors Inc. Has $111,000 Stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,732 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in Cognex by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $888,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $40.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of 78.21 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 61.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CGNX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.