Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Price

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price reduced by Needham & Company LLC from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Vertical Research began coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Stephens upgraded Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.17.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.85 on Friday. Cognex has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.42 and its 200-day moving average is $42.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.56 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 57.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 64,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 17,978 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cognex by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $743,307,000 after purchasing an additional 188,485 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in Cognex by 153.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 81,467 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Cognex by 30.5% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $113,722,000 after purchasing an additional 598,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

About Cognex

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.