Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives $48.58 Consensus PT from Analysts

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $49.15.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CGNX. UBS Group raised shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens increased their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 71,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,018,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in Cognex by 92.2% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,993 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,230,000 after purchasing an additional 13,906 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $974,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,700,000 after purchasing an additional 11,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 171,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after buying an additional 13,213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $46.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.86 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $59.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.07.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $196.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.16 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

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.