Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Time to Sell?

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $32.35 and last traded at $32.67, with a volume of 398260 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. HSBC cut Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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, six have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently 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 $37.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.72. The company has a market cap of $5.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.84 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 worth $662,687,000 after buying an additional 296,251 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position 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 worth $209,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Cognex by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $211,303,000 after acquiring an additional 131,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 42,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 13.7% in 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 period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.