Castleark Management LLC Buys New Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 110,240 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,401,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position 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 valued at $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,714.48. The trade was a 88.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $61.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.96 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $64.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.62. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $33.45 and a 52-week high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 40.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CGNX. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. 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. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

Cognex Profile

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.