Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.3077.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cognex from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In related news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total transaction of $2,727,296.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $344,714.48. This represents a 88.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 3,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock worth $14,975,098 over the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 buying an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $252,360,000 after buying an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Cognex by 31.0% in the 4th 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 grew its stake in Cognex by 0.9% in the 2nd 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 increased its holdings in Cognex by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,950,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $142,154,000 after acquiring an additional 842,783 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $67.38 on Friday. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $34.60 and a fifty-two week high of $72.88. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.09. The company has a market capitalization of $11.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.42 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $292.10 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.82% and a net margin of 16.05%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.48%.

Cognex News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter adjusted EPS was $0.45, above the $0.42 analyst consensus and up from $0.25 a year earlier. Revenue reached a record $291.3 million, rising 16.9% year over year, while net income increased sharply. Margin improvement, favorable product mix, and cost controls supported the earnings beat. Cognex Q2 Earnings Beat on Margin Gains Despite Revenue Miss
• Positive Sentiment: Cognex raised its outlook. Third-quarter revenue guidance of $300 million to $320 million and EPS guidance of $0.50 to $0.54 are well above consensus estimates of $279.2 million and $0.37, respectively. Full-year 2026 EPS guidance was raised to $1.64-$1.68, versus the prior analyst estimate of $1.48, with revenue projected at $1.13-$1.15 billion. Cognex Corporation 2026 Q2 Results Earnings Call Presentation
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, payable September 3 to shareholders of record August 20. The payout provides a modest shareholder return, although the reported yield is approximately 0.5%. Cognex Delivers Record Q2 Results and Raises Dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Management attributed growth to broad-based strength across most major end markets, which supports the recovery outlook for Cognex’s industrial machine-vision business. However, investors will look for this momentum to translate into sustained revenue growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Quarterly revenue narrowly missed the $292.1 million consensus estimate. For a stock trading at a relatively high earnings multiple, even a small top-line miss may outweigh the EPS beat and strong forward guidance. Cognex Misses Q2 CY2026 Revenue Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity showed company insiders selling shares without recorded purchases during the past six months. While such sales may reflect routine diversification, they can add to investor caution following the earnings release.

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.