Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Reduces Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 42,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 24,300 shares during the period. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. Miller Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 202.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $66.10 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $29.22 and a 52-week high of $71.90. The stock has a market cap of $11.00 billion, a PE ratio of 78.69 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.32.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% 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 valued at $14,975,098 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stephens upped their target price on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Truist Financial set a $61.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.