Insider Selling: Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Sells 20,252 Shares of Stock

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX traded down $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.01. 1,981,032 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,214,232. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.22 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.99 billion, a PE ratio of 78.58 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.21.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CGNX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.43.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. REAP Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Cognex in the first quarter worth about $36,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Cognex by 74.8% in 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. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 207.6% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 935 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.