Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Cognex Call Options (NASDAQ:CGNX)

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 16,442 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 981% compared to the average volume of 1,521 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price target on Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $68.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.43.

Cognex Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.98 on Monday, hitting $67.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,685,145 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,214,989. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.37 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex has a one year low of $31.42 and a one year high of $71.90.

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

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider directly owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $2,727,296.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,714.48. This represents a 88.78% 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 three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 2,228.2% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 618,408 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $30,296,000 after buying an additional 591,846 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Cognex by 194.2% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 19,268 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $944,000 after acquiring an additional 12,718 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the first quarter worth approximately $300,000. Front Street Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.0% during the first quarter. Front Street Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,322,588 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $64,794,000 after acquiring an additional 13,293 shares during the period. Finally, Essential Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 12.5% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $105,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.