Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $72.35 and last traded at $71.5410, with a volume of 1811368 shares. The stock had previously closed at $68.36.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CGNX shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price target on Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Stephens raised their target price on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.14.

Cognex Stock Down 6.6%

The stock has a market cap of $11.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.75 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.07.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,696.60. This trade represents a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 in the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,471,400 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $68,388,000. 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 buying an additional 1,785,159 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

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.