Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 114,652 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,152,053 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 114,652 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Cognex were worth $41,451,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $743,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex by 58.8% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,914 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 1,053,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $37,897,000 after acquiring an additional 165,005 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 63.5% during the 4th quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 25,916 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $932,000 after acquiring an additional 10,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Cognex by 329.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 2,779 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $65.85 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.22 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.52. The firm has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.39 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. The firm’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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 40.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $344,714.48. This trade represents a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. This trade represents a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Truist Financial set a $61.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.