Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $32.35 and last traded at $32.67, with a volume of 398260 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have assigned 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 target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Down 2.7 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $37.43 and a 200 day moving average of $38.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Research analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 122.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after buying an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in 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 worth $209,427,000 after buying an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Cognex by 903.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $26,222,000 after acquiring an additional 658,394 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company 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.