Royce & Associates LP Sells 175,495 Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Royce & Associates LP decreased its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,204,247 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 175,495 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Cognex were worth $35,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,299,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 16,472.8% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 819,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $24,432,000 after purchasing an additional 814,086 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Cognex by 903.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,222,000 after purchasing an additional 658,394 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 464.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 782,576 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $28,063,000 after purchasing an additional 643,959 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 139.7% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,096,710 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $39,328,000 after purchasing an additional 639,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.25.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $34.30. The company had a trading volume of 169,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,734. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $50.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.49 and its 200-day moving average is $31.92. The company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.52 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

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.