Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Sells 15,972 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. trimmed its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 54.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 13,257 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 15,972 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $1,158,123,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $161,425,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Cognex by 81.0% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,660,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $130,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,434 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $129,348,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 115.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,033,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $99,601,000 after buying an additional 1,090,092 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 3.0%

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $58.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.90. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.60 and a 12-month high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Cognex from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.57.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation develops machine vision and industrial identification technologies that help manufacturers and businesses automate inspection, measurement, guidance, and tracking processes. Its systems use cameras, sensors, software, and artificial intelligence to analyze images and identify products, defects, components, and other objects.

The company’s product portfolio includes vision systems, industrial cameras, vision sensors, barcode readers, optical character recognition tools, three-dimensional vision systems, and machine vision software.