Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Peregrine Investment Management Inc.

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

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Cognex by 13.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 461,724 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.1% in 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 acquiring an additional 25,492 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $63,584,000 after acquiring an additional 38,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $33.32. 1,206,093 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,656,015. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.98. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $52.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.00 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $32.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price target (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Cowen raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $41.62.

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.