Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have 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. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $49.15.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $47.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.22 billion, a PE ratio of 82.60 and a beta of 1.45. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $59.51. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $44.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.26.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $210.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $198.14 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th were issued a $0.075 dividend. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Cognex during the first quarter worth about $58,502,000. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 104,389 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $4,428,000 after acquiring an additional 6,218 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 88.7% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,463 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $402,000 after acquiring an additional 4,448 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 986.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,679,000 after acquiring an additional 1,469,961 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,154,625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $91,399,000 after purchasing an additional 53,267 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.