Needham & Company LLC Lowers Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target to $47.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $50.00 to $47.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on CGNX. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Cognex from $55.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.17.

Cognex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.41. 1,460,817 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,284,564. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.91. The company has a market capitalization of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.71 and a beta of 1.41. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $234.74 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $229.86 million. Cognex had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 5.34%. On average, analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.43 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dianne M. Parrotte purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,340 shares in the company, valued at $437,950.80. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr bought 6,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Dianne M. Parrotte bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.62 per share, with a total value of $77,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,340 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $437,950.80. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Thomas Story & Son LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 143,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,829,000 after purchasing an additional 19,915 shares in the last quarter. AIA Group Ltd boosted its stake in Cognex by 12.9% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 90,122 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,650,000 after acquiring an additional 10,284 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.9% in the third quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 31,844 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,290,000 after buying an additional 2,323 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $632,000. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $608,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently 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.