Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $57.00.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX stock opened at $53.78 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $50.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.86. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market cap of $8.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.27 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after buying an additional 10,471,400 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Cognex by 18,810.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,657,000 after buying an additional 1,785,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $252,360,000 after buying an additional 1,529,010 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.