Castleark Management LLC Takes $9.32 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Castleark Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 128,730 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,323,000. Castleark Management LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Cognex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,158,123,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the 4th quarter valued at $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 4th quarter worth $68,388,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter worth $129,348,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.64.

Cognex Stock Up 2.2%

CGNX stock opened at $59.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.08 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.15. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.60 and a 12-month high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 16.05%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. Research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.01%.

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.