Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $41.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on CGNX. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded Cognex from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stephens lifted their target price on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $48.67.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $44.49 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.96. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $59.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.71 and a beta of 1.48.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 92.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 28,993 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 13,906 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 8.5% in the third quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 22,957 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $974,000 after buying an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Cognex by 4.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 252,116 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,700,000 after acquiring an additional 11,400 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 171,477 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $7,278,000 after acquiring an additional 13,213 shares during the period. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. acquired a new position in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.