Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $64.00 at Barclays

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $61.00 to $64.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on CGNX. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $49.56 on Monday. Cognex has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.22. The company has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 73.97 and a beta of 1.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were paid a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 56,645 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after purchasing an additional 24,490 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 210.3% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 58,932 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,127,000 after buying an additional 39,937 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cognex by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 26,562 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $956,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Cognex by 118.7% in the 4th quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,353 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 6,704 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $379,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.