Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Trading Up 7.6% After Dividend Announcement

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s share price shot up 7.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $44.05 and last traded at $44.05. 213,741 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 1,451,534 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.94.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Cognex in a report on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.58.

Cognex Trading Up 1.0 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Cognex during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 719 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 303.1% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 71.1% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently 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.