Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.35 and last traded at $71.5410, with a volume of 1811368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Truist Financial set a $61.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued 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, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.43.

Cognex Stock Up 5.1%

The firm has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.60 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average of $62.59 and a 200 day moving average of $51.58.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1.49 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 was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 40.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,234.40. This represents a 94.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. This trade represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 in the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 13.2% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,976,000 after acquiring an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the first quarter worth approximately $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 24.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 402.2% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.