Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $75.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on CGNX. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cognex from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $85.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.21.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $47.78 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $59.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.04. Cognex has a 52 week low of $34.60 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.41 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. Cognex had a return on equity of 15.75% and a net margin of 21.50%. The business had revenue of $313.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $313.62 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex will post 1.70 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0850. This represents a $0.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 23.78%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter valued at $1,158,123,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in Cognex by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 5,985,986 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $363,002,000 after buying an additional 156,108 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth about $161,425,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,227,288 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $135,085,000 after acquiring an additional 11,927 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,660,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $130,320,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,434 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Company Profile