SG Americas Securities LLC Cuts Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

SG Americas Securities LLC reduced its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 76.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,378 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 46,278 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 148.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 7,075,772 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $223,594,000 after purchasing an additional 4,228,729 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Cognex by 121.5% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 12,990 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 7,126 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its stake in Cognex by 49.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 62,525 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,983,000 after buying an additional 20,587 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors purchased a new stake in Cognex in the 2nd quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 52,502 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,862 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Up 3.8%

CGNX opened at $40.41 on Thursday. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $49.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.14 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Cognex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. This is an increase from Cognex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cognex’s payout ratio is 53.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CGNX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, October 31st. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Cognex from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $38.00 target price on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.64.

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.