William Blair Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,053,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 165,005 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $37,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cognex by 12.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in Cognex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,651 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in Cognex by 0.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,349 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,006 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on CGNX shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.36.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $344,714.48. This trade represents a 88.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 204,595 shares of company stock valued at $13,631,580 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $66.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.63. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $29.00 and a one year high of $71.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.68 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The business had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

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.