Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and nine have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.6429.

CGNX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price target on Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Barclays set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st.

Cognex Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $40.92 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.36. Cognex has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $49.76. The company has a market capitalization of $6.86 billion, a PE ratio of 63.94 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.085 dividend. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.13%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognex in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.