Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.00.

Cognex Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $54.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.18 billion, a PE ratio of 82.05 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.23. Cognex has a 12-month low of $22.85 and a 12-month high of $59.88.

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

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 50.75%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 13.3% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 318,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $14,450,000 after purchasing an additional 37,405 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Cognex by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $292,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,212 shares during the period. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter worth about $5,761,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Cognex by 43.9% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in Cognex by 203.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 266,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,093,000 after purchasing an additional 178,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.