Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 180.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 16,934 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,886 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 74.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 327 shares during 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 acquiring an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 207.6% in the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 935 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 21,060.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.43.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $61.32 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $48.91. The firm has a market cap of $10.20 billion, a PE ratio of 73.00 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.22 and a 1-year high of $71.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.