Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $45.00 Price Target at Stephens

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price raised by Stephens from $40.00 to $45.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on CGNX. UBS Group upgraded Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup increased 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, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.58.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $43.79. 1,411,680 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 906,843. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.89. The company has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $59.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its 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. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter valued at $30,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 71.1% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 334 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.