Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $48.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CGNX. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $48.67.

Cognex Stock Up 1.6 %

CGNX opened at $44.49 on Friday. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $59.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.96. The company has a market cap of $7.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.71 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The firm’s revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Cognex by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 150,657 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,391,000 after acquiring an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 24.7% during the first quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,576,558 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,878,000 after purchasing an additional 312,098 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 30.5% during 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 buying an additional 203,684 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised 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 worth $113,722,000 after buying an additional 598,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.