27,624 Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 27,624 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,001,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth about $1,158,123,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after buying an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Cognex by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $191,231,000 after buying an additional 1,258,629 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in Cognex by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,950,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $142,154,000 after acquiring an additional 842,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $60.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.02 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.60 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.83.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. Cognex’s quarterly revenue was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 33.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. DA Davidson set a $65.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.64.

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.