Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Cut to “Hold” at Truist Financial

Truist Financial lowered shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $43.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $46.00.

CGNX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Stephens upgraded shares of Cognex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $55.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $42.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $47.91.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $43.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.99. Cognex has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $53.13. The firm has a market cap of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 82.79 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This is a positive change from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 57.69%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, CFO Dennis Fehr purchased 6,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.04 per share, with a total value of $249,922.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 6,570 shares in the company, valued at $249,922.80. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 986.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,619,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,961 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,502,000. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.8% in the 2nd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 5,098,711 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $237,812,000 after buying an additional 1,259,116 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 41.4% in the first quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,716,623 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $157,659,000 after buying an additional 1,088,095 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in Cognex by 132.0% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,272,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $59,509,000 after acquiring an additional 723,976 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.