Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Cognex Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 18 research firms, with the average 1-year price target set at $44.93.
• Insider activity includes EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma selling 2,000 shares at an average price of $45.03, reducing her ownership by 23.30%.
• Institutional investors have shown increased interest, with the Teacher Retirement System of Texas raising its stake in Cognex by 51.3% during the last quarter.

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $44.9333.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Melius raised Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. KeyCorp raised Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays set a $55.00 target price on Cognex and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total value of $90,060.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $296,387.46. The trade was a 23.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 51.3% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,451,000 after buying an additional 16,489 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 155.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 7.4% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 93.8% during the first quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 29,828 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Cognex during the first quarter worth $369,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $40.78 on Friday. Cognex has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $47.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.44 and a beta of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $44.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.The business had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Cognex will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.

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