Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Price Up 7.6%

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) shares were up 7.6% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.05 and last traded at $44.05. Approximately 213,741 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,451,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.94.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $47.70.

Cognex Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.59 and a 200-day moving average of $38.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.70 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a net margin of 13.52% and a return on equity of 6.86%. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $12,417,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth about $2,016,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in Cognex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 1,206,227 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $50,348,000 after purchasing an additional 99,647 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cognex by 49.4% in the 4th quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 402,248 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $17,120,000 after purchasing an additional 132,991 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its position in Cognex by 26.3% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 227,641 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $9,661,000 after purchasing an additional 47,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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.