9,440 Shares in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Acquired by Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 9,440 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $31.58 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.77 and a beta of 1.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $28.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.25.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.