HSBC Downgrades Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) to Hold

HSBC cut shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $33.00 target price on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CGNX. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $44.83.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $32.81. 1,300,275 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,420,928. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $37.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.79 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a 12-month low of $32.14 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's payout ratio is currently 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 shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.