Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC decreased its stake in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX – Get Rating) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,600 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $640,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in Cognex by 86.6% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 833 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 136.4% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the first quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $68,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.24% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Patrick Alias sold 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.50, for a total transaction of $29,700.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet cut Cognex from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Cowen cut their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Friday, February 17th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Credit Suisse Group raised Cognex from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $41.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Cognex in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.17.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $53.71 on Friday. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $40.21 and a 52-week high of $58.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.71 and a beta of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.70.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, May 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.07 per share. This represents a $0.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 18th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.00%.

Cognex Profile

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Cognex Corp. engages in the provision of machine vision products and solutions. Its products include vision sensors, vision systems, 3D vision systems, barcode readers, barcode verifiers, vision software, and vision tools. Its solutions include alignment, dimensioning, item detection, edge intelligence, logistics barcode reading systems and tunnels, water identification, and tire inspection.