UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Price

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price target cut by investment analysts at UBS Group from $58.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. UBS Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 66.47% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on CGNX. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Cognex from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Cognex from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Cognex to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.42.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $33.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.81. Cognex has a twelve month low of $32.41 and a twelve month high of $53.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.71 billion, a PE ratio of 55.15 and a beta of 1.40.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.14 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.15 by ($0.01). Cognex had a return on equity of 5.65% and a net margin of 11.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.75, for a total transaction of $110,758.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $1,040,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares in the company, valued at $1,065,118.24. The trade was a 49.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 885 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 129.9% during the fourth quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,007 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.