Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 62.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,475,379 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 566,047 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.86% of Cognex worth $52,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Cognex by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Up 0.2 %

Cognex stock opened at $29.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.31 and a beta of 1.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $28.13 and a 200-day moving average of $34.56. Cognex Co. has a 52-week low of $22.67 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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 approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.17.

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.