Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Insider Mark Fennell Sells 64,873 Shares

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at $755,184.15. This trade represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cognex Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $65.68 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.60. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.00 and a 12-month high of $71.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.19 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 40.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.86.

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.