Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $42.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $44.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $37.19 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.52 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in Cognex by 1,686.7% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.