Cantor Fitzgerald Begins Coverage on Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage set an "overweight" rating and a $49.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target indicates a potential upside of 35.85% from the stock's current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Cognex from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Cognex from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stephens upgraded Cognex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $47.92.

Cognex Stock Up 1.3 %

CGNX traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $36.07. 2,141,346 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,262,301. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.63 and its 200 day moving average is $41.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a PE ratio of 69.37 and a beta of 1.39. Cognex has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $53.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, CTO Joerg Kuechen sold 2,934 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Anthony Sun sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total transaction of $1,040,780.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 26,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,065,118.24. This trade represents a 49.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Cognex during the third quarter worth $25,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 123.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 714 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Company Profile

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.