The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 117,970 Cognex Corporation $CGNX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 117,970 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,543,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,158,123,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $376,979,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,400 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $191,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,629 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $151,264,000 after acquiring an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,950,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $142,154,000 after purchasing an additional 842,783 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of Cognex stock opened at $60.46 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.60 and a 1 year high of $72.88. The firm has a market cap of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.70 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.43 and a 200 day moving average of $59.46.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Cognex’s quarterly revenue 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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price target on Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.64.

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.