UBS Group Cuts Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target to $56.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target cut by UBS Group from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.42.

Cognex Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $33.40 on Tuesday. Cognex has a twelve month low of $32.41 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $5.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.75 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.43 and a 200 day moving average of $38.77.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company Profile

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.