Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.17.

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Cognex Trading Down 0.0%

Cognex stock opened at $31.61 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.12 and a 200 day moving average of $34.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.82 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 791 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 155.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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