Sei Investments Co. Increases Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 26.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 273,808 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,481 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $13,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter valued at about $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $68,388,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 18,810.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $56,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785,159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,529,010 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $62.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.42 billion, a PE ratio of 74.55 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.81 and a 200 day moving average of $56.09. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.60 and a 1 year high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $72.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Truist Financial raised 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. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.31.

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.