Mark Fennell Sells 64,873 Shares of Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $1.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.68. The stock had a trading volume of 2,359,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,228,531. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $29.00 and a 52 week high of $71.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $53.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 78.19 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company’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. Equities research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.97 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 16,913 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $829,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 63.2% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $104,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 30.6% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,283 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $112,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 326,961 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $16,018,000 after acquiring an additional 4,256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.86.

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.