New York State Common Retirement Fund Trims Stake in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 64.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 261,017 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 476,514 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.16% of Cognex worth $11,824,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Cognex by 13.4% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $361,382,000 after purchasing an additional 949,599 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.9% in the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $137,003,000 after buying an additional 922,149 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 2,724,331 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $86,416,000 after buying an additional 413,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 2,029,648 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $64,366,000 after acquiring an additional 6,801 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $39.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.13 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $49.76. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.64.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.