Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) reached a new 12-month high of $44.21 during trading, closing at $44.18 with over 2.4 million shares exchanged.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Cognex, with one sell rating, six holds, seven buys, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", alongside a raised average price target of $42.31.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08, with a dividend yield of 0.7%, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $44.21 and last traded at $44.18, with a volume of 2441788 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. TD Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $35.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.31.

Cognex Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.86. The company has a market capitalization of $7.42 billion, a PE ratio of 62.23 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 439.4% in 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 last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter worth about $29,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. 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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