Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Buys 27,992 Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 115.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,336 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,992 shares during the quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $51,199,000 after purchasing an additional 42,292 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 75.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Cognex by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 337,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $12,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 7,515.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,679 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 31,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. 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 note on Monday, June 16th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, June 16th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.17.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,909,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,244. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.26 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Cognex's payout ratio is 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.