Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $64.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price lifted by Barclays from $61.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

CGNX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.00.

Cognex Stock Down 0.5%

CGNX stock opened at $49.87 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.31. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market capitalization of $8.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.43 and a beta of 1.46.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Cognex by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 23,326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Cognex by 62.0% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.