Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Bought by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,256,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 25,492 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 1.32% of Cognex worth $80,923,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.58. 1,607,092 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,557,103. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $28.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.33. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. Equities research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

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.