Proficio Capital Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 33,888 Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 33,888 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,215,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Clean Yield Group raised its holdings in Cognex by 1,686.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. boosted its position in Cognex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $1.47 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $32.17. 1,664,967 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,503,476. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.74 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.26. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $31.06 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $44.83.

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.