Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) reached a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $29.87 and last traded at $29.90, with a volume of 316021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $34.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.50. The stock has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 49.20 and a beta of 1.43.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,479,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $662,687,000 after acquiring an additional 296,251 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Cognex by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $210,210,000 after purchasing an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Cognex by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $136,999,000 after purchasing an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its holdings in Cognex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $151,948,000 after buying an additional 305,913 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.