Truist Financial Cuts Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target to $50.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target lowered by Truist Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CGNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.62.

Cognex Stock Up 0.6%

CGNX opened at $54.03 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $52.73 and a 200-day moving average of $44.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.64 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex has a 12-month low of $24.75 and a 12-month high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the sale, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased 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 buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Cognex by 74.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $38,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.