Truist Financial Corp Decreases Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Truist Financial Corp cut its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 1.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,989 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,421 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.05% of Cognex worth $2,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7,515.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 31,679 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 31,263 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 1st quarter worth about $54,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Cognex by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 10,868 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 439.4% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $46.57 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.84. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $47.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 65.59 and a beta of 1.50.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $246.70 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.07%.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $90,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,582 shares in the company, valued at $296,387.46. This trade represents a 23.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp raised shares of Cognex from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays set a $55.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Melius raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.93.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.