Truist Financial Boosts Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target to $78.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Truist Financial from $71.00 to $78.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock. Truist Financial’s price objective points to a potential upside of 13.66% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.31.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $68.63 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.09. Cognex has a 52-week low of $34.60 and a 52-week high of $72.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.82%. The company had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, analysts predict that Cognex will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,714.48. This trade represents a 88.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 635.4% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 74.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.