Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Cut to $42.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target lowered by Robert W. Baird from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Stephens increased 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. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.36.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $38.07. 1,806,669 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,359,439. Cognex has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.02. The firm has a market cap of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of 65.64 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 4.8% in the first quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 6,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Cognex by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Cognex by 11.3% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 3,829 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 390 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.