StockNews.com Upgrades Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) to Hold

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

CGNX has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Cognex from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Stephens upped their price target on Cognex from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Vertical Research began coverage on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $58.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.14.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $48.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.95 and a beta of 1.42. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $47.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.65. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $34.28 and a fifty-two week high of $55.08.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $210.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $198.14 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. Research analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Contour Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $11,454,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 64,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 17,978 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 153.6% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 134,516 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,706,000 after acquiring an additional 81,467 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 30.5% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 870,822 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $36,940,000 after acquiring an additional 203,684 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Brown Capital Management LLC now owns 5,419,313 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $226,202,000 after acquiring an additional 262,003 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by 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.