Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $55.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $52.00 to $55.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $48.58.

Cognex Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $43.79. 1,411,680 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 906,843. Cognex has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $59.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex 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 transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter worth $30,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased 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 acquiring an additional 579 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 719 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased 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 acquiring an additional 334 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.