Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 22.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,475 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 22,062 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 439.4% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 155.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 105.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $44.02 on Tuesday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $45.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.08. The company has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of 62.00 and a beta of 1.47.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.The firm had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.70 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Cognex from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Cowen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.31.

Cognex Profile

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.