Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.17.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, June 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $662,687,000 after acquiring an additional 296,251 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 32.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $181,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,832 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% during the fourth quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Cognex by 126.2% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $137,510,000 after purchasing an additional 2,571,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Cognex by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $136,999,000 after buying an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.50. The company had a trading volume of 1,385,894 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,575. The stock has a market cap of $5.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.79 and a beta of 1.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $29.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.20. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $53.13.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

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.