Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives $56.64 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CGNX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $49.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a PE ratio of 73.97 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $43.22.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $230,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.