Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $32.00 Price Target at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $29.00 to $32.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sell rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

CGNX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. HSBC lowered Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Cognex from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Cognex Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $30.15 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.43 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.85. Cognex has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $53.13.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 47.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in Cognex by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 16,096 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $577,000 after acquiring an additional 4,251 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 127,256 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 27,727 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Cognex by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 42,905 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 12,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peregrine Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,042,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.