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

Key Points

• Cognex received a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 18 analysts, with 10 Buy, 1 Strong Buy, and 7 Hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is about $69.36.
• The company recently reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $0.34 versus estimates of $0.25 and revenue of $268.44 million versus estimates of $245.98 million. Revenue rose 24.3% year over year, and management guided Q2 2026 EPS at 0.400–0.440.
• Insider selling and institutional ownership were notable: insiders sold 208,745 shares over the last 90 days, while hedge funds and other institutions own 88.12% of the stock. Cognex also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, implying a 0.5% yield.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eighteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $69.3571.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price target on Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognex news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total transaction of $4,349,734.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This trade represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total value of $230,657.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. This trade represents a 20.37% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,745 shares of company stock valued at $13,862,237. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 13.3% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 318,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $14,450,000 after purchasing an additional 37,405 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $292,224,000 after purchasing an additional 76,212 shares during the last quarter. IMC Chicago LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $5,761,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 43.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 477,658 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $17,186,000 after purchasing an additional 76,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $66.09 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.60. The company has a market capitalization of $11.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 78.68 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex has a 1-year low of $29.00 and a 1-year high of $71.90.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex's revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cognex will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.48%.

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.

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