Ameriprise Financial Inc. Acquires 566,047 Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 62.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,475,379 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 566,047 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.86% of Cognex worth $52,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cognex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $662,687,000 after acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Cognex by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $136,999,000 after purchasing an additional 461,724 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $79,797,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Cognex by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,092,681 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $75,044,000 after buying an additional 576,788 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $32.07. The stock had a trading volume of 2,386,484 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,554,393. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.45. The firm has a market cap of $5.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.57 and a beta of 1.45.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.