MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Sells 24,947 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lessened its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,116,167 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 24,947 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. owned 1.23% of Cognex worth $75,875,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 25,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $79,797,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Down 0.1%

Cognex stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $31.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,607,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,562,492. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.01 and a 200-day moving average of $34.29. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped 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. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cowen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.