KBC Group NV Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,409 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 2,904 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.09% of Cognex worth $4,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 736 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Cognex in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Cognex by 231.9% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 31.5% during the second quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 62.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,490 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price objective on Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Cognex in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $56.00 price target (up previously from $55.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.20.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $36.77 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $49.76. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.04. The company has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.45 and a beta of 1.52.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.06. Cognex had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 11.33%.The company had revenue of $264.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $261.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.20 earnings per share. Cognex’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.190-0.24 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. This is a boost from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.13%.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, Director Robert Willett sold 6,704 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.51, for a total value of $331,915.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,706 shares of company stock worth $512,065. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.