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

Shares of Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $47.92.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Stephens raised shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company.

Cognex Trading Up 1.3 %

CGNX opened at $36.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.79. Cognex has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.37 and a beta of 1.39.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 61.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cognex in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.