Cognex Co. (NASDAQ:CGNX) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

According to Zacks, “Cognex Corp. designs, develops, manufactures, and markets machine vision systems that are used to automate a wide range of manufacturing processes where vision is required. Cognex machine vision systems consist of two primary elements: a computer, which serves as a machine vision engine, and software that processes and analyzes images. When connected to a video camera, the machine vision system captures images and extracts information, which determines appropriate action for other equipment in the manufacturing process. “

CGNX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Cowen and Company initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, October 12th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, January 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $36.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective (down previously from $47.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, FBR & Co. started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, November 11th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.63.

Other large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eagle Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 80.9% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management now owns 3,758,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $129,196,000 after buying an additional 1,681,495 shares during the last quarter. Janus Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $1,378,000. BB&T Securities raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 55.9% in the fourth quarter. BB&T Securities now owns 16,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 6,082 shares during the last quarter. First Quadrant L P CA purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter worth $3,604,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 786,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,566,000 after buying an additional 6,372 shares during the last quarter.

Shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) traded down 0.45% during midday trading on Monday, hitting $30.86. 350,993 shares of the stock were exchanged. The company has a market cap of $2.62 billion and a PE ratio of 14.08. Cognex has a 12 month low of $28.01 and a 12 month high of $52.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.35.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.07. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The company had revenue of $107.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $107.44 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cognex will post $1.18 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Corporation is a provider of machine vision products that captures and analyzes visual information in order to automate tasks, primarily in manufacturing processes. The Company operates in the modular vision systems division (NASDAQ:CGNX). The Company’s products include barcode readers, machine vision sensors and machine vision systems that are used in factories, warehouses and distribution centers around the world. MVSD develops, manufactures and markets modular vision systems and identification (ID) products that are used to automate the manufacture and tracking of discrete items, such as cellular phones, aspirin bottles and automobile wheels during the manufacturing or distribution process. The Company’s registered marks include Cognex, VisionPro, In-Sight, Checker and DataMan, among others.

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