Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Sells 206,114 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. decreased its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 83.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,098 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 206,114 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,335,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Cognex by 148.5% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,075,772 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $223,594,000 after buying an additional 4,228,729 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $181,436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,832 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Cognex by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,539,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $75,756,000 after acquiring an additional 647,955 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,022 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $44,954,000 after acquiring an additional 79,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,723,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $331,915.04. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,706 shares of company stock valued at $512,065. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $38.21 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.87 and its 200 day moving average is $38.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 59.70 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $49.76.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $264.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $261.86 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.33% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.190-0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson set a $38.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.20.

Cognex Company Profile

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.