Golden State Equity Partners Acquires New Shares in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,700 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $662,687,000 after purchasing an additional 296,251 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Cognex by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $136,999,000 after purchasing an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,256,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $80,923,000 after purchasing an additional 25,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $79,797,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.17.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $31.46. 2,909,480 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,621,119. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.26 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $29.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.35.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. 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 1.02%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.