Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 113,125 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 17,415 shares during the period. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. owned about 0.07% of Cognex worth $3,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Cognex by 51.3% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,451,000 after acquiring an additional 16,489 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 155.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at $369,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 457,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $16,411,000 after buying an additional 14,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.25.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $34.17. 1,663,095 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,677,936. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $50.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.25 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $31.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.92.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

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.