Van ECK Associates Corp Has $3.86 Million Stock Holdings in Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 39.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,529 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,161 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth $55,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 43.2% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research began coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Down 0.3 %

CGNX opened at $42.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.52 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.04. Cognex Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

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.