Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 9,440 Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 9,440 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth about $79,797,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth about $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during 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. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 903.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $26,222,000 after acquiring an additional 658,394 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 464.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $28,063,000 after acquiring an additional 643,959 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $29.72. The company had a trading volume of 2,310,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,577,909. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a PE ratio of 48.72 and a beta of 1.45. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.92.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

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.