Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $36.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Needham & Company LLC from $33.00 to $36.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.42.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX traded up $0.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.90. The company had a trading volume of 558,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,598,837. The company has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.66 and a beta of 1.47. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $53.13. The business's fifty day moving average price is $27.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.04.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex's payout ratio is 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $662,687,000 after acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $181,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,832 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% in the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $137,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 461,724 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.