Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Increased to $41.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued to 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 target price would suggest a potential downside of 6.97% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cognex from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 19th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $48.67.

Cognex Trading Up 0.6 %

CGNX traded up $0.28 on Monday, hitting $44.07. 278,159 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,456,455. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.31 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a one year low of $34.28 and a one year high of $59.51. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.04. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.81% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $196.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.16 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.54, for a total transaction of $274,942.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 94.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 589 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1,239.7% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 777 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 303.1% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 770 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Cognex by 71.1% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 804 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.