The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target to $39.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $45.00 to $39.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Cognex from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.36.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX traded up $1.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.25. The company had a trading volume of 742,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,351,933. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.02. Cognex has a 1-year low of $34.28 and a 1-year high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $6.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.72 and a beta of 1.42.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 9.29% and a return on equity of 4.97%. The business had revenue of $239.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $240.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.32 earnings per share. Cognex’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.