Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $44.00 Price Target at Robert W. Baird

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price lifted by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $44.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock traded up $0.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,411,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,843. The stock 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 52 week low of $34.28 and a 52 week high of $59.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.89.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. 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 at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st 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. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Cognex by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.