Analysts Set Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target at $50.00

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.17.

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake 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 valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 17,978 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $743,307,000 after buying an additional 188,485 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in 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 valued at $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 81,467 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,684 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $113,722,000 after purchasing an additional 598,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $40.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 77.71 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $42.91.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 5.34% and a net margin of 10.10%. The firm had revenue of $234.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.86 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.