Analysts Set Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target at $47.91

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $47.91.

A number of research firms have commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $39.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.24 on Wednesday. Cognex has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.03 and its 200-day moving average is $42.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.38 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, CFO Dennis Fehr acquired 6,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.04 per share, for a total transaction of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $249,922.80. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. This represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,522,549 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $743,307,000 after buying an additional 188,485 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 362.6% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 508,724 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $21,623,000 after purchasing an additional 398,746 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,154,625 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $91,399,000 after purchasing an additional 53,267 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 8.1% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 4,018,539 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $187,907,000 after purchasing an additional 301,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,309,827 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $61,248,000 after purchasing an additional 15,871 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.