Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Cut to $41.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $47.00 to $41.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $33.20 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a PE ratio of 63.85 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a 52 week low of $32.41 and a 52 week high of $53.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.07.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 5.28%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth about $79,797,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Cognex by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,834,755 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $114,808,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562,115 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,299,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Cognex by 903.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 731,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $26,222,000 after acquiring an additional 658,394 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.