Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Lowers Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 36.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 42,012 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 24,300 shares during the period. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,512,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $824,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Cognex by 12.9% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Cognex by 0.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,349 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $2,462,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 74.8% during 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 buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 23,006 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $66.10 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $61.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.69 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.22 and a 12-month high of $71.90.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,714.48. The trade was a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on CGNX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Zacks Research raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 15th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.43.

Cognex 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.