Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives $47.07 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $53.7333.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $57.09 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.83. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.21 and a beta of 1.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $842,522,000 after buying an additional 374,999 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $292,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,212 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $252,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Cognex by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $191,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,629 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Company Profile

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.