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

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: Seventeen brokerages give Cognex a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (2 strong buy, 9 buy, 6 hold) with an average 1‑year price target of about $56.64.
• Quarterly results beat expectations: Cognex reported Q EPS of $0.27 vs. $0.22 expected and revenue of $252.3M vs. $238.9M expected, with revenue up 9.9% year‑over‑year; analysts expect FY EPS of about $0.61.
• Notable insider selling: Corporate insiders sold 196,083 shares worth $11.42M in the last 90 days (including VP and director sales), leaving insiders with roughly 1.6% ownership.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $56.6429.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Zacks Research raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at approximately $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $824,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 12.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Cognex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $662,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 10.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in Cognex by 0.6% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Up 2.8%

Cognex stock opened at $50.82 on Tuesday. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $45.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.42 billion, a PE ratio of 75.85 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.75%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company's product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.

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