Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $2.86 Million in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 39,491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,860,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth $26,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in 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 valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 635.4% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 74.8% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX opened at $58.54 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $64.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.84 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.60 and a 52-week high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The business’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. Research analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total transaction of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at approximately $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CGNX. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Cognex from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $91.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. HSBC lowered shares of Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.64.

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.