Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stake Increased by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al grew its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,600 shares during the period. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al’s holdings in Cognex were worth $935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CGNX. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $38,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Cognex News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its earnings estimates across multiple periods for Cognex, including a big increase to FY2026 EPS and a higher FY2027 forecast, while keeping an Overweight rating and $70 price target. That suggests Wall Street sees stronger profitability ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another Zacks item highlighted Cognex as a momentum name, reflecting improving market sentiment and technical strength around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also pointed to strong adoption of Cognex OneVision and the launch of the In-Sight 3900 embedded AI vision system, reinforcing the company’s push into AI-enabled industrial automation. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognex also announced that CFO Dennis Fehr will present at the TD Cowen Technology, Media & Telecom Conference later this month, which is more of a visibility event than a direct catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A filing noted that Laura Ann Macdonald sold a large block of Cognex shares, which may weigh on sentiment slightly, though this is likely less important than the upbeat earnings and product news. Article Title

Cognex Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of CGNX opened at $64.26 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.50 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $29.00 and a 12 month high of $71.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $53.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.97.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results 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 company 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%. Cognex’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $351,234.40. This trade represents a 94.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 208,745 shares of company stock valued at $13,862,237 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on CGNX. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.36.

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.