Analysts Set Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Target Price at $47.92

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $47.92.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $36.99 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.82. Cognex has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.14 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a $0.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Cognex’s payout ratio 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.