Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $49.17.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Vertical Research assumed coverage on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company.

Cognex Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.52. The stock had a trading volume of 795,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,290,491. Cognex has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.16. The company has a market cap of $6.78 billion, a PE ratio of 68.14 and a beta of 1.41.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 4.97% and a net margin of 9.29%. The firm had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $240.33 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th were given a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at about $11,454,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Cognex by 38.4% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 64,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 17,978 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $743,307,000 after purchasing an additional 188,485 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Cognex by 153.6% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 81,467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 30.5% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,684 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.