Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.00.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $54.64 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $51.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.16. Cognex has a 1 year low of $22.85 and a 1 year high of $59.88. The company has a market cap of $9.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 81.55 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew 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 purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth about $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $56,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $252,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,010 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.