Needham Investment Management LLC Acquires 10,000 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Needham Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 6.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Needham Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Cognex worth $6,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Cognex by 13.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the first quarter valued at approximately $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Cognex by 24.1% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,415,000 after buying an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Cognex by 402.2% during the first 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. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Cognex by 7.5% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $65.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $10.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.45 and a beta of 1.52. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $29.22 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.64.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company’s revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CGNX shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial set a $61.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.43.

Cognex Company 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.