Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

Key Points

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Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $33.76, but opened at $38.52. Cognex shares last traded at $41.59, with a volume of 1,420,035 shares trading hands.

The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The business 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 earned $0.23 EPS. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. KeyCorp raised shares of Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 37.0% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 47,381 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,699,000 after buying an additional 12,797 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,299,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,742,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Cognex by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 243,098 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $8,717,000 after buying an additional 23,662 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,230,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.00 and a beta of 1.47. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.85.

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.