Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Shares Gap Down to $49.62

Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $49.62, but opened at $46.00. Cognex shares last traded at $43.23, with a volume of 502,588 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $48.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price 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. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $52.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.79.

Cognex Stock Down 21.2 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.97. The stock has a market cap of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.12 and a beta of 1.42.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 6.81%. The company had revenue of $239.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $240.33 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Co. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Cognex by 94.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 276.1% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janiczek Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 71.8% during the fourth quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,295 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.