Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.83.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cognex in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $31.57 on Tuesday. Cognex has a 1 year low of $30.04 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.75 and a beta of 1.43. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.50 and its 200 day moving average is $37.70.

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 anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

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.