Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Cut to $26.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $37.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on CGNX. UBS Group reduced their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.22 during trading on Monday, hitting $23.77. 4,864,589 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,443,376. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.97 and a beta of 1.56. Cognex has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's payout ratio is 52.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 3.5% in the fourth 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 grew its stake in Cognex by 5.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 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.