Insider Selling: Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Sells $850,597.96 in Stock

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cognex Stock Up 0.2%

CGNX opened at $58.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.75 and a beta of 1.53. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.58. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Cognex News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth — Cognex reported $0.27 EPS vs. $0.22 expected and revenue of $252.3M (up ~10% YoY); the stronger-than-expected results and margin improvement were the primary upward catalyst. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Raised Q1 guidance — management gave Q1 EPS and revenue guidance above Street estimates (EPS guide 0.220–0.260 vs. consensus ~0.200), supporting the outlook for continued recovery. Guidance & Call
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / price target lift — Needham raised its target from $47 to $67 and kept a Buy rating, reinforcing the bullish narrative and adding buy-side momentum. Analyst Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and shareholder-friendly actions mentioned on the call — Cognex declared a quarterly dividend and discussed portfolio optimization and buyback/dividend moves that support shareholder returns. Dividend & Call Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive press and commentary — multiple outlets (Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, Benzinga) published bullish takes on the turnaround and long-term returns; useful for sentiment but reiterative. Feature Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reporting shows no meaningful short positions in the available data (entries report zero/NaN), so short-squeeze pressure appears unlikely based on current figures.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales — Director Robert Willett sold ~177k shares (~$10.3M) and VP Laura Macdonald sold ~14.9k shares (~$850k). Big insider dispositions can temper sentiment even after strong results. Insider Filings
• Negative Sentiment: Emerging AI regulation risk — Cognex added a regulatory risk disclosure related to rising AI rules that could increase compliance costs and pressure margins over time. AI Regulation Risk

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Cognex by 173,138.2% in 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 148.5% in the second quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,075,772 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $223,594,000 after buying an additional 4,228,729 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter valued at about $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Cognex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $68,388,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 18,810.9% in the 2nd 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 acquiring an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.73.

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.