Impax Asset Management Group plc Trims Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 52.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,427,715 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 2,654,599 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 1.43% of Cognex worth $72,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 439.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 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. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 129.9% in the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.17.

Cognex Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $32.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,385,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,637,251. The company has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.79 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.11.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

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.