Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.7857.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $331,915.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 12.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Cognex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 14,611 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $662,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 10.6% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 2,788 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System increased its position in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,349 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $36.61 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.68 and its 200 day moving average is $39.44. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $49.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.20 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.13%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.