Norges Bank Takes $73.10 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,031,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,103,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Future Fund LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $1,943,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at $180,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 180.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 16,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 10,886 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 124.5% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $3,542,000 after buying an additional 54,600 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, 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 value of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Trading Down 6.0%

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $60.82 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 72.40 and a beta of 1.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.45. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $71.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 40.48%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Cognex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $61.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.43.

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.