Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Price

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price reduced by equities researchers at Citigroup from $37.00 to $26.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.33% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on CGNX. UBS Group cut their target price on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. HSBC cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $24.00 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.21. The company has a market capitalization of $4.06 billion, a PE ratio of 39.34 and a beta of 1.56. Cognex has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, equities analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total transaction of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 439.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Cognex by 155.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares during the period. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 129.9% during the 4th quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently 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.