Norges Bank Takes $73.10 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,031,768 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,103,000. Norges Bank owned 1.21% of Cognex at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 10,471,400 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 18,810.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,785,159 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $252,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,950,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $142,154,000 after purchasing an additional 842,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 10,861.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 782,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,460,000 after purchasing an additional 775,635 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.43.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock opened at $60.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.40 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex Corporation has a one year low of $29.22 and a one year high of $71.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $58.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $48.45.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released 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 firm had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. Cognex’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. 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.