Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given New $50.00 Price Target at Truist Financial

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price cut by Truist Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 9.91% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CGNX. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.62.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $55.50 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.84 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $52.07 and a 200 day moving average of $44.28. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.85 and a 12 month high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $238.92 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.Cognex’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 196,083 shares of company stock valued at $11,419,321 over the last ninety days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $376,979,000 after buying an additional 10,471,400 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 18,810.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $56,657,000 after buying an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Cognex by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $252,360,000 after buying an additional 1,529,010 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation is a leading provider of machine vision systems, software, sensors and industrial barcode readers used to automate manufacturing, logistics and distribution processes. The company designs and develops vision-based products that help manufacturers and logistics operators inspect, identify and guide parts, assemblies and packaged goods in real time. Its solutions are applied in a broad range of industries, including automotive, electronics, semiconductor, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, and general manufacturing.

The company’s product portfolio includes stand-alone vision systems, vision sensors and deep learning-based software platforms that enable automated inspection, quality control and traceability.