Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.67.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $56.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd.

Cognex Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $30.60 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.97. Cognex has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.16 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.06%.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 126.2% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,510,000 after acquiring an additional 2,571,457 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $79,797,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $181,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,832 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $46,299,000. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.3% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 5,840,117 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $209,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253,996 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.