Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,949 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 16,127 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on CGNX. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

Cognex Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.54. The stock had a trading volume of 1,317,433 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,609,612. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.07 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.73.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Cognex's payout ratio is currently 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.