Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 target price on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Cognex from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Cognex Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $54.64 on Tuesday. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.85 and a 52 week high of $59.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.13 billion, a PE ratio of 81.55 and a beta of 1.47. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.16.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its 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. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total transaction of $10,338,066.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 196,083 shares of company stock worth $11,419,321 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Cognex by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 23,326 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Cognex by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company Profile

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.