Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Hits New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) hit a new 52-week low 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.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a 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 note on Wednesday, March 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. This trade represents a 59.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cognex by 50.0% during the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 129.9% in the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,686.7% in the 4th quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 1,072 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.2% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Down 9.0 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.54. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44 and a beta of 1.56.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Co. will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 27th were paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 27th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 52.46%.

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.