Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $69.3571.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CGNX. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 target price on Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research cut Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stephens lifted their target price on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $61.00 target price on Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Cognex Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $66.09 on Friday. Cognex has a twelve month low of $29.00 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.68 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.60.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cognex will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. This represents a 94.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 208,745 shares of company stock worth $13,862,237 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter worth about $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 207.6% during the third quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 935 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. 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.