Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Grows Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 22.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 71,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 12,901 shares during the quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Cognex were worth $3,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 23,326 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Cognex by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,208 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,234.40. This represents a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on CGNX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on Cognex in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $62.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.31.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $62.05 on Monday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $33.45 and a 1-year high of $72.88. The company has a 50-day moving average of $64.97 and a 200 day moving average of $55.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 73.87 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.085 dividend. 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 payout ratio is presently 40.48%.

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.