Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Has $479,000 Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC decreased its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 44.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,067 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 12,777 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 296,251 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Cognex by 13.7% during 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 last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Cognex by 1.1% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $79,797,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.17.

Cognex Stock Down 2.1%

CGNX traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.85. 1,397,531 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,636,292. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.84 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $30.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.05.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 47.06%.

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.