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

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $31.95 and last traded at $31.79, with a volume of 1270903 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $32.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.52 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.44.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of Cognex 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. 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 hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 fourth 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 in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its holdings in Cognex by 2.6% during the third 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 buying an additional 131,560 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Cognex by 0.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,190,365 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $210,210,000 after acquiring an additional 42,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake 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 valued at $136,999,000 after acquiring an additional 461,724 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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.