D.A. Davidson & CO. Acquires Shares of 56,352 Cognex Corporation $CGNX

D.A. Davidson & CO. bought a new position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 56,352 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake 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. 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 202.7% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price target on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $63.08 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.10 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $33.45 and a one year high of $72.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $65.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.73.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm’s revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 presently 40.48%.

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.