Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 12-Month Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low on Friday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $41.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cognex traded as low as $32.50 and last traded at $33.92, with a volume of 6422026 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.25.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stephens restated an "overweight" rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $46.92.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business's 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 296,251 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.3% in 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 buying an additional 1,253,996 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Cognex by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,230,271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $211,303,000 after buying an additional 131,560 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised 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 worth $210,210,000 after buying an additional 42,882 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Cognex by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,820,394 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $136,999,000 after acquiring an additional 461,724 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.88. The firm has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.85 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.28% and a net margin of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.54%.

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.