Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stock Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 370,071 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,545 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Cognex worth $18,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 202.7% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,105 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Cognex in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $62.54 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.10. The stock has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.45 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $33.45 and a 12 month high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The company had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 target price on Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.31.

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.