Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) PT Raised to $41.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective increased by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 10.68% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 19th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.15.

Cognex Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $45.90 on Monday. Cognex has a 12 month low of $34.28 and a 12 month high of $59.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $40.93 and its 200 day moving average is $39.02. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 79.14 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.16 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. United Services Automobile Association grew its holdings in Cognex by 2.4% during the third quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 11,682 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the 1st 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 period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 6,279 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Cognex by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,760 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in Cognex by 0.4% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 78,043 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is 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.