Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) VP Sells $2,727,296.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Cognex VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares on May 12 at an average price of $65.56, totaling about $2.73 million. After the sale, she retained 5,258 shares, an 88.78% reduction in her position.
• The company reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.34 versus estimates of $0.25 and revenue of $268.44 million, up 24.3% year over year. Cognex also guided Q2 2026 EPS at 0.40-0.44.
• Cognex announced a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, payable June 4 to shareholders of record on May 21, for an annualized yield of about 0.5%. The stock also traded down 2.3% to $65.68 in the session described.

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) 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 value of $2,727,296.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at $344,714.48. This represents a 88.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Laura Ann Macdonald also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, May 11th, Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of Cognex stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total value of $6,554,549.60.
• On Thursday, February 12th, Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of Cognex stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96.

Cognex Stock Down 2.3%

CGNX stock traded down $1.58 on Tuesday, reaching $65.68. 2,359,419 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,228,531. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $53.08 and a 200-day moving average of $45.47. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $29.00 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The firm has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of 78.19 and a beta of 1.48.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 40.48%.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 2.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $842,522,000 after acquiring an additional 374,999 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $292,224,000 after acquiring an additional 76,212 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $252,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 31.0% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $55.00 target price on Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Cognex from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $68.86.

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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