Truist Financial Reaffirms Buy Rating for Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by stock analysts at Truist Financial in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $50.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $47.00. Truist Financial’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 7.94% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also commented on CGNX. Robert W. Baird increased their price target 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Stephens increased their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.15.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $46.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.95 billion, a PE ratio of 79.86 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.07. Cognex has a twelve month low of $34.28 and a twelve month high of $59.51.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total value of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Cognex by 303.1% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1,239.7% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.