Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives “Hold” Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reiterated their hold rating on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $37.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $43.00.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on CGNX. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Cognex from $44.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.92.

Cognex Stock Down 2.1 %

CGNX stock opened at $33.20 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.80 and its 200-day moving average is $39.07. The company has a market cap of $5.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.85 and a beta of 1.40. Cognex has a twelve month low of $32.41 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.28% and a net margin of 10.10%. Research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 27th. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Company Profile

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.