Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

CGNX has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $53.73.

Cognex Trading Down 1.4%

CGNX stock opened at $55.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $40.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.03. Cognex has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.49 and a beta of 1.53.

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

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares in the company, valued at $126,437.92. The trade was a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 13.3% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 318,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,450,000 after acquiring an additional 37,405 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Cognex by 13.4% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $361,382,000 after purchasing an additional 949,599 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Cognex by 43.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares in the last quarter. IMC Chicago LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,761,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 203.2% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 266,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $12,093,000 after purchasing an additional 178,911 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.