Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA reduced its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,673,031 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 340,153 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Cognex were worth $326,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Cognex by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex in the 1st quarter valued at about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after acquiring an additional 9,223 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Cognex by 7.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 price target (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.43.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $344,714.48. This trade represents a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Cognex stock opened at $66.56 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.28. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.19 and a 12 month high of $71.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.08 billion, a PE ratio of 79.24 and a beta of 1.52.

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. The firm 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%. Cognex’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Cognex Company Profile

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.