Research Analysts Set Expectations for Cognex Q4 Earnings

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) - Equities research analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Cognex in a research note issued on Tuesday, November 5th. DA Davidson analyst M. Summerville forecasts that the scientific and technical instruments company will post earnings per share of $0.04 for the quarter. DA Davidson currently has a "Neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Cognex's current full-year earnings is $0.43 per share.

CGNX has been the subject of a number of other reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cognex from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Stephens raised Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $48.92.

Cognex Stock Up 6.9 %

Shares of Cognex stock traded up $2.76 on Wednesday, reaching $42.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,174,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,286,439. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $7.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.92 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.99.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,384,341 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $56,066,000 after acquiring an additional 19,774 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its position in Cognex by 0.4% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 174,632 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $7,073,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $264,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 5.9% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,386,973 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $56,172,000 after buying an additional 77,146 shares during the period. Finally, Thomas Story & Son LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 143,927 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $5,829,000 after buying an additional 19,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Cognex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

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.