Riverbridge Partners LLC Lowers Position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Riverbridge Partners LLC reduced its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,240,159 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 93,463 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned approximately 0.73% of Cognex worth $36,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $662,687,000 after buying an additional 296,251 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $209,427,000 after buying an additional 1,253,996 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position 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 valued at $136,999,000 after buying an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $80,923,000 after buying an additional 25,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $79,797,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $29.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.07 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.69 and a 200-day moving average of $32.62.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cognex from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Cognex 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.

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