Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Laura Ann Macdonald Sells 14,881 Shares

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This represents a 87.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $58.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 87.75 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $22.67 and a one year high of $59.88. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 53.13%.

Key Headlines Impacting Cognex

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth — Cognex reported $0.27 EPS vs. $0.22 expected and revenue of $252.3M (up ~10% YoY); the stronger-than-expected results and margin improvement were the primary upward catalyst. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Raised Q1 guidance — management gave Q1 EPS and revenue guidance above Street estimates (EPS guide 0.220–0.260 vs. consensus ~0.200), supporting the outlook for continued recovery. Guidance & Call
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / price target lift — Needham raised its target from $47 to $67 and kept a Buy rating, reinforcing the bullish narrative and adding buy-side momentum. Analyst Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and shareholder-friendly actions mentioned on the call — Cognex declared a quarterly dividend and discussed portfolio optimization and buyback/dividend moves that support shareholder returns. Dividend & Call Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive press and commentary — multiple outlets (Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, Benzinga) published bullish takes on the turnaround and long-term returns; useful for sentiment but reiterative. Feature Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reporting shows no meaningful short positions in the available data (entries report zero/NaN), so short-squeeze pressure appears unlikely based on current figures.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales — Director Robert Willett sold ~177k shares (~$10.3M) and VP Laura Macdonald sold ~14.9k shares (~$850k). Big insider dispositions can temper sentiment even after strong results. Insider Filings
• Negative Sentiment: Emerging AI regulation risk — Cognex added a regulatory risk disclosure related to rising AI rules that could increase compliance costs and pressure margins over time. AI Regulation Risk

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $61.00 target price (up previously from $54.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.73.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors 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.