Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Truist Financial lowered their price target on the stock from $37.00 to $29.00. Truist Financial currently has a hold rating on the stock. Cognex traded as low as $22.97 and last traded at $23.27, with a volume of 3580040 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.51.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Trading Down 5.1 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.71 and a 200 day moving average of $36.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.15 and a beta of 1.56.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 11.61% and a return on equity of 5.65%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

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.