World Investment Advisors Takes Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

World Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,420 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Cognex by 51.3% during the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 16,489 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 7.4% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Cognex by 1.9% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $63,584,000 after purchasing an additional 38,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 1.7% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 577,616 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $17,230,000 after purchasing an additional 9,475 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $40.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.28 and a beta of 1.50. The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.41. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $49.76.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $276.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.86 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.33% and a return on equity of 8.26%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.20 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.190-0.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 53.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Cognex in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price objective on Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $90,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total transaction of $331,915.04. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 10,706 shares of company stock valued at $512,065 over the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.