Truist Financial Reaffirms "Buy" Rating for Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Truist Financial reiterated their buy rating on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $50.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, up from their previous price objective of $47.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on CGNX. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday. Stephens raised their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $49.15.

Cognex Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $45.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,955,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,471,872. The business's 50 day moving average is $40.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.02. Cognex has a 12-month low of $34.28 and a 12-month high of $59.51. The firm has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.14 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 1,239.7% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 71.1% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 334 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.