Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Upgraded to Hold by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CGNX. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a sell rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research began coverage on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a buy rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HSBC raised Cognex from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $52.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $49.62.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.74. 1,113,675 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,358,859. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $46.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.95. The company has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a PE ratio of 66.79 and a beta of 1.42. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.33 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.46 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,454,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 38.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 64,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 17,978 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $743,307,000 after acquiring an additional 188,485 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 153.6% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 81,467 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 30.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,940,000 after acquiring an additional 203,684 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company Profile

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.