Johnson Financial Group Inc. Makes New $307,000 Investment in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,367 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $12,417,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,295,729 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,084,000 after buying an additional 61,890 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,016,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in Cognex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,206,227 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $50,348,000 after buying an additional 99,647 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 402,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $17,120,000 after buying an additional 132,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.1 %

CGNX traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, reaching $47.67. 900,690 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,167,544. Cognex Co. has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $59.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a PE ratio of 82.19 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.08.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $210.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $198.14 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.72%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on CGNX. HSBC raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.15.

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.