Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives $47.91 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.92.

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Cognex in a report on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Stephens raised Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Cognex in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $35.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.79 and a beta of 1.39. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.72.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.54%.

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.