Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.4286.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $64.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.02. Cognex has a 52-week low of $29.22 and a 52-week high of $71.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Analysts predict that Cognex will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Cognex by 13.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company 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.