Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 81,353 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Geode Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,035,683 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 81,353 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $96,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 736 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Cognex by 231.9% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $90,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,582 shares in the company, valued at $296,387.46. This trade represents a 23.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $331,915.04. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 10,706 shares of company stock valued at $512,065. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $36.89 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $49.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $43.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $38.25. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 57.64 and a beta of 1.52.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $264.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $261.86 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.33% and a return on equity of 8.26%. Cognex’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.20 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.190-0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 53.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 target price (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.20.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.