Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) PT Raised to $44.00 at Robert W. Baird

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective hoisted by Robert W. Baird from $40.00 to $44.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

CGNX has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a buy rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 19th. UBS Group raised shares of Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $48.58.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $43.79 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.90. The company has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a PE ratio of 75.50 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $59.51.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at about $58,641,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Cognex by 156.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,065,693 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $86,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260,282 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 17.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,536,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $234,962,000 after purchasing an additional 837,487 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Cognex by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,811,495 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $119,320,000 after purchasing an additional 387,860 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,576,558 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,878,000 after buying an additional 312,098 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.