Peregrine Investment Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 203,320 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 20,950 shares during the quarter. Cognex makes up about 4.5% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Peregrine Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.12% of Cognex worth $6,065,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Cognex by 105.5% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cognex during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Down 1.2%

CGNX stock traded down $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $34.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,036,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,656,381. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $30.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.01. 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 $5.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.50 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.77.

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.