Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Cut to $35.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target decreased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $39.00 to $35.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sell” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 5.93% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Cognex from $58.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.42.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX stock traded down $0.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,845,651 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,360,901. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.88. Cognex has a one year low of $32.41 and a one year high of $53.13. The company has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of 63.54 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 5.28%. Analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 26,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total value of $110,758.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,836 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 50.0% during 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. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its position in shares of Cognex by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,749 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.