Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by American Capital Management Inc.

American Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 25.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 271,533 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 92,840 shares during the quarter. American Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.16% of Cognex worth $13,302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Cognex by 173,138.2% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% during the second 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 period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $252,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 target price on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $344,714.48. This trade represents a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $61.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $64.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.62. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $33.45 and a 52 week high of $72.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.96 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is 40.48%.

About Cognex

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.