Needham Investment Management LLC Sells 50,000 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Needham Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 20.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 50,000 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.12% of Cognex worth $7,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Clean Yield Group increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1,818.9% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,840 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $101,000 after acquiring an additional 2,692 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,858,000. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,301 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $31.58. 1,607,092 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,560,181. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.33. Cognex Co. has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The company 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird reduced 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. UBS Group cut their price target on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.17.

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.