Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Short Interest Down 27.3% in February

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) saw a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 4,996,707 shares, a drop of 27.3% from the January 29th total of 6,868,499 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,497,097 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 3,497,097 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $61.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.21.

Cognex Trading Down 0.4%

CGNX stock opened at $53.61 on Wednesday. Cognex has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $59.88. The stock has a market cap of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.02 and a beta of 1.46. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $42.80.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth about $29,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.