Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Gap Down to $49.62

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $49.62, but opened at $46.00. Cognex shares last traded at $43.23, with a volume of 502,588 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CGNX. Vertical Research initiated coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Cognex Trading Down 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 65.90 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.95.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 276.1% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 71.8% during the 4th quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.