AlphaQuest LLC Sells 2,948 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

AlphaQuest LLC trimmed its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 35.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,359 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,948 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% during the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CGNX. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.83.

Cognex Trading Up 4.1 %

Cognex stock opened at $31.51 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.66 and a beta of 1.43. Cognex Co. has a 1-year low of $30.04 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.04.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.