Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Cognex has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 17 covering firms, with 11 buy ratings, 5 hold ratings and 1 strong buy. The average 12-month price target is about $70.43.
• The company’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $0.34 versus $0.25 expected and revenue of $268.44 million versus $245.98 million expected. Revenue also rose 24.3% year over year, and Cognex issued Q2 2026 EPS guidance of $0.40 to $0.44.
• Recent insider activity was notably negative, as two executives sold large blocks of shares in May, bringing total insider sales over the last quarter to 224,847 shares. Institutional investors still hold a large majority of the stock, owning 88.12%.

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $70.4286.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CGNX. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 15th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $68.00 price objective (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cognex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $64.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $10.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 77.11 and a beta of 1.52. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $60.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.02. Cognex has a 52-week low of $29.22 and a 52-week high of $71.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $245.98 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Analysts predict that Cognex will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 40.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In other Cognex news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. The trade was a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Cognex by 13.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 200,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $5,976,000 after buying an additional 23,326 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cognex during the 1st quarter worth about $291,000. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,444 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,223 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in 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 period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of Cognex by 7.5% in 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 period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

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.

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