Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $62.25 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $63.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.85. Cognex has a one year low of $34.60 and a one year high of $72.88. The company has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.44 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cognex will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,158,123,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Cognex by 7,134.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,032,461 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,016,231,000 after buying an additional 13,838,483 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in Cognex by 173,138.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after buying an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Cognex by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $191,231,000 after buying an additional 1,258,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in Cognex by 0.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,264,000 after acquiring an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. 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.