Insider Selling: Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Sells $1,343,517.68 in Stock

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $65.85 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.52. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $71.90. The firm has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.39 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $842,522,000 after purchasing an additional 374,999 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Cognex by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $292,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,212 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Cognex by 27.9% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $252,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Cognex by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $191,231,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.43.

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.