Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday after Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on the stock from $47.00 to $41.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Cognex traded as low as $32.50 and last traded at $33.92, with a volume of 6422026 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $39.25.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s 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 directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 123.1% during the third 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 during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 2.1 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $37.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.85 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 5.28% and a net margin of 10.10%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. 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.