UMB Bank n.a. Boosts Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 105.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $38,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,427,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,199,000 after buying an additional 42,292 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,870 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in Cognex by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 337,300 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth $1,215,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 457,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $16,411,000 after purchasing an additional 14,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $30.15 on Monday. Cognex Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.80. The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.43 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CGNX. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

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.