Cognex’s (CGNX) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) in a research report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $50.00 target price on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $47.00.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.15.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $45.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 79.14 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.02. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $59.51.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.16 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Cognex’s revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Cognex’s payout ratio is 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in Cognex by 94.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Cognex

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.