Granite Investment Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 147,002 Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Granite Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 147,002 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,202,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 74.8% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 202.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $351,234.40. This trade represents a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $64.11 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $64.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.16. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $32.55 and a 12-month high of $72.88. The firm has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a PE ratio of 76.32 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released 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. The company had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.14.

About Cognex

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.