Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) PT Raised to $41.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price raised by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sell” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 6.97% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial assumed coverage on Cognex in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $48.67.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $44.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 278,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,456,455. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.90. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.28 and a 52-week high of $59.51. The stock has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.31 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Carl Gerst sold 6,782 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its stake in Cognex by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 150,657 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,391,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,576,558 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $66,878,000 after acquiring an additional 312,098 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Cognex by 303.1% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 30.5% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,940,000 after purchasing an additional 203,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Cognex by 29.0% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,663,900 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $113,722,000 after buying an additional 598,207 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.