KBC Group NV reduced its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,313 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 29,933 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.09% of Cognex worth $4,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 75,575 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $2,710,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have commented on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, June 16th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.17.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Cognex
Cognex Stock Performance
CGNX stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.50. The stock had a trading volume of 1,385,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,633,320. The company's 50 day moving average price is $30.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.13. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.79 and a beta of 1.47.
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. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.
About Cognex
(
Free Report)
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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