Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Raised to “Buy” at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $52.00 price objective on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Stephens increased their target price on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup boosted 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. Truist Financial reissued a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price (up previously from $47.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $49.15.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $46.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.17 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $59.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 35,363 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after acquiring an additional 3,493 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in Cognex by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 188,607 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,001,000 after purchasing an additional 16,715 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its holdings in Cognex by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 105,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $4,487,000 after buying an additional 33,256 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 41.4% during the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $157,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,095 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 209,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $8,870,000 after buying an additional 24,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.