Brokerages Set Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Target Price at $42.83

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the thirteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation, five have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $42.83.

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of CGNX traded up $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $25.95. The stock had a trading volume of 579,933 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,478,850. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 42.49 and a beta of 1.56. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $29.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.58.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

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.