JPMorgan Chase & Co. Begins Coverage on Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. has initiated coverage on Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) with a neutral rating and a price target of $45.00, suggesting a potential upside of 1.37% from its current price.
• Other analysts have varying opinions, with Needham & Company rating it a "buy" at a higher price target of $45.00, while Goldman Sachs rated it a "sell" with a target of $32.00.
• Cognex reported earnings of $0.25 per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates and marking a 4.2% year-over-year revenue increase.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $45.00 price target on the scientific and technical instruments company's stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CGNX. Melius raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $43.07.

Cognex Trading Down 0.0%

Cognex stock traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $46.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,107,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,088,643. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.37. The company has a market cap of $7.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.99 and a beta of 1.50. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $46.42.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.07%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $90,060.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 6,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,387.46. This trade represents a 23.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Cognex by 51.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 16,489 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.4% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 93.8% during the first quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 29,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,434 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the first quarter worth $369,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.