Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 210.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,932 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,937 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Cognex by 124.5% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,542,000 after buying an additional 54,600 shares during the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter worth $1,945,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $292,224,000 after acquiring an additional 76,212 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 477,658 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $17,186,000 after acquiring an additional 76,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 23.7% during the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,611,602 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $73,006,000 after acquiring an additional 308,687 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This trade represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.00.

Cognex Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $1.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.80. 1,693,045 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,317,232. The company has a market cap of $11.12 billion, a PE ratio of 79.52 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $64.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.45. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.55 and a 12-month high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 40.48%.

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.