Legal & General Group Plc Makes New Investment in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,148,709 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $83,190,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 635.4% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 74.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in 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 $62.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 61.14 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $64.54 and a 200 day moving average of $59.45. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.60 and a 1 year high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.10 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 16.05%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 EPS. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $65.00 price target on Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.64.

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.