Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Stock Price Down 7.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX)’s share price was down 7.3% during trading on Wednesday after Zacks Research downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $62.22 and last traded at $61.51. Approximately 135,200 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 94% from the average session volume of 2,125,512 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.35.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cognex from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $72.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Cognex from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, HSBC cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, August 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.21.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,158,123,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at $161,425,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in Cognex by 81.0% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,660,411 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $130,320,000 after buying an additional 1,190,434 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $129,348,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in Cognex by 115.6% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,033,091 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $99,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090,092 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognex Trading Down 0.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $10.25 billion, a PE ratio of 59.14 and a beta of 1.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.28.

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. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The company had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.0850 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.01%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ: CGNX) develops machine vision products and technologies that help businesses automate manufacturing, logistics and other industrial processes. Its systems enable machines to inspect, identify, measure and guide products, components and materials with limited human intervention.

The company’s product portfolio includes industrial vision cameras, vision sensors, image-based barcode readers, three-dimensional vision systems and software for image processing and analysis.