Short Interest in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Rises By 6.4%

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,660,000 shares, a growth of 6.4% from the November 30th total of 3,440,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $36.71. The company had a trading volume of 56,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,294. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.27. The company has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.60 and a beta of 1.39. Cognex has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CGNX. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of Cognex 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 21.5% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 39,303 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 6,958 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Cognex by 43.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in Cognex by 3.1% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 18,819 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 565 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 71,368 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,337,000 after purchasing an additional 6,513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roubaix Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18.1% during the second quarter. Roubaix Capital LLC now owns 77,972 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,646,000 after acquiring an additional 11,973 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.