56,352 Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX Bought by D.A. Davidson & CO.

D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 56,352 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during the 3rd 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. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 202.7% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,714.48. This represents a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 target price on Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

Cognex Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $63.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.14 and a 200 day moving average of $54.73. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.45 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The company has a market cap of $10.50 billion, a PE ratio of 75.10 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.