Cognex Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 19,358 call options on the company. Thisrepresentsanincreaseofapproximately3,420% compared to the average volume of 550 call options.

Cognex Stock Up 0.8%

CGNX opened at $44.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 62.35 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.41. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $45.03.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.31.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Cognex by 148.5% during the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,075,772 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $223,594,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228,729 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Cognex by 126.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $137,510,000 after buying an additional 2,571,457 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $56,657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,785,159 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $181,436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,474,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Cognex in the second quarter worth about $45,723,000. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Company 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.