Wall Street Zen Upgrades Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) to Buy

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on CGNX. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 price target (up from $72.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.64.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $62.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.44 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex has a 52 week low of $34.60 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $63.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $59.86.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.2% in the first 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 buying an additional 23,326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Cognex by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.