Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.83.

A number of research firms recently commented on CGNX. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. HSBC cut shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 21st. Hsbc Global Res cut Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, January 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the company’s 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. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd 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 during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $32.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $5.56 billion, a PE ratio of 53.62 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.13 and a 200-day moving average of $38.64. Cognex has a 52-week low of $32.14 and a 52-week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.46%.

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.