Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $35.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $37.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.42.

Cognex Trading Down 0.5 %

CGNX opened at $33.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 63.54 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a 1-year low of $32.41 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $37.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) 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 net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 5.28%. On average, research analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.38 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other 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 value of $110,758.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.