Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.17.

CGNX has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $39.46 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.03 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $53.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.15.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.32 earnings per share. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, for a total transaction of $77,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Cognex by 58.9% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 19,266 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 7,145 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Cognex by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,407 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 5,081 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its holdings in Cognex by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,445,894 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $161,130,000 after buying an additional 49,026 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.