Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $48.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective upped by Needham & Company LLC from $46.00 to $48.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup increased their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Truist Financial started coverage on Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a buy rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $48.58.

Cognex Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.79. The company had a trading volume of 1,411,680 shares, compared to its average volume of 906,843. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $59.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.89. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. Cognex’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 51.72%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related 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 value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Cognex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 71,112 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 92.2% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,993 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 13,906 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $974,000 after acquiring an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Cognex by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $10,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,400 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 171,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $7,278,000 after acquiring an additional 13,213 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.