Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Earns Overweight Rating from Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in a report issued on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $55.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.92.

Cognex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Cognex stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $35.70. The stock had a trading volume of 677,498 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,255,294. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.66 and a beta of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.24. Cognex has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This is a boost from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. Cognex's payout ratio is 61.54%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex 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. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 131,560 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 8.1% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $187,907,000 after purchasing an additional 301,916 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its holdings in Cognex by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 3,751,807 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $151,948,000 after purchasing an additional 305,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,608,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $146,157,000 after buying an additional 175,423 shares in the last quarter. 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.