Pacer Advisors Inc. Buys 591,846 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2,228.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 618,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 591,846 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $30,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in Cognex by 202.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Zacks Research raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.31.

Cognex Trading Up 3.4%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $67.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $11.22 billion, a PE ratio of 80.29 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.60 and a 1-year high of $72.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $64.82 and a 200-day moving average of $56.47.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.48%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $351,234.40. This represents a 94.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company 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.