Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Upgraded at TD Cowen

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) was upgraded by stock analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $35.00 target price on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price indicates a potential upside of 30.60% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Cognex from $39.00 to $35.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Cognex from $37.00 to $26.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Cognex from $37.00 to $29.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.23.

Cognex Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $26.80 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.94 and a beta of 1.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.20. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $53.13.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.73, for a total value of $222,662.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,566 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,445.18. The trade was a 59.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 577,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $17,230,000 after purchasing an additional 9,475 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $63,584,000 after purchasing an additional 38,857 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Cognex by 7.4% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $230,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in Cognex by 51.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 16,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 344,756 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $10,346,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. 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.