Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Laura Ann Macdonald Sells 98,122 Shares

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,234.40. This trade represents a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Laura Ann Macdonald also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, May 12th, Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of Cognex stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $2,727,296.00.
• On Thursday, February 12th, Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total transaction of $850,597.96.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $65.68 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.00 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The stock has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 78.19 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $53.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.60.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex’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, equities analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter worth about $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth about $38,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial set a $61.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Zacks Research cut shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. DA Davidson set a $55.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.86.

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.