Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $41.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sell rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens raised their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $49.15.

Cognex Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $46.50 on Monday. Cognex has a 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $59.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.13. The company has a market cap of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.17 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $12,417,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,016,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in Cognex by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,206,227 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $50,348,000 after purchasing an additional 99,647 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 402,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $17,120,000 after buying an additional 132,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 227,641 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $9,661,000 after buying an additional 47,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.