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

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $46.20.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Cognex in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price target on Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st.

Cognex Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $38.21 on Friday. Cognex has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $49.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.60. The company has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.70 and a beta of 1.52.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. Cognex had a net margin of 11.33% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The company had revenue of $264.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.86 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.190-0.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 53.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $331,915.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $90,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,387.46. This trade represents a 23.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 10,706 shares of company stock valued at $512,065 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Cognex by 8.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 73,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,782 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $91,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Cognex by 43.3% in the third quarter. Dark Forest Capital Management LP now owns 86,772 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,931,000 after purchasing an additional 26,208 shares during the period. Finally, Westerly Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 41.7% in the third quarter. Westerly Capital Management LLC now owns 85,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,850,000 after purchasing an additional 25,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.