Entropy Technologies LP Sells 5,829 Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Entropy Technologies LP trimmed its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 40.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,693 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 5,829 shares during the quarter. Entropy Technologies LP's holdings in Cognex were worth $259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,381 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 12,797 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Cognex by 14.5% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 98,537 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $3,534,000 after acquiring an additional 12,488 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Cognex by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 24,633 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $883,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Cognex by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,153,176 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $41,353,000 after acquiring an additional 73,553 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 75,575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $43.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.30 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.98. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $44.39.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.70 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.31.

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.

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