Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Sold by Kopion Asset Management LLC

Kopion Asset Management LLC cut its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 11.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 194,310 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 26,182 shares during the quarter. Cognex makes up about 5.7% of Kopion Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Kopion Asset Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Cognex worth $7,870,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Cognex by 38.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 64,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 17,978 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $743,307,000 after purchasing an additional 188,485 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Cognex by 153.6% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 81,467 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Cognex by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $36,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Cognex by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $113,722,000 after purchasing an additional 598,207 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $50.00.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,255,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,703. Cognex Co. has a 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.90 billion, a PE ratio of 68.43 and a beta of 1.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.04.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $240.33 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 EPS. Cognex's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.