Cognex Corporation (CGNX) - What Are Analysts Saying About This Stock?

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Eighteen brokerages give Cognex a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with 10 buys, seven holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $75.57.
• Cognex reported quarterly EPS of $0.45, beating estimates of $0.42, while revenue reached $291.26 million and increased 16.9% year over year. Management provided FY 2026 EPS guidance of $1.64–$1.68.
• The stock opened at $56.77, versus a 52-week range of $34.60–$72.88, and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.085, equivalent to a 0.6% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 88.12% of the company.

Shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $75.57.

CGNX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Cognex from $78.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $56.77 on Wednesday. Cognex has a one year low of $34.60 and a one year high of $72.88. The stock has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of 55.12 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.76.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 16.05%. The firm's revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Cognex will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a $0.0850 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 33.01%.

Institutional Trading of Cognex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in Cognex in the third quarter valued at $212,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 443,904 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $26,923,000 after purchasing an additional 27,080 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 20.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,046 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 500,783 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $30,372,000 after purchasing an additional 100,148 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Jean Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter worth $3,229,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Company Profile

Cognex Corporation develops machine vision and industrial identification technologies that help manufacturers and businesses automate inspection, measurement, guidance, and tracking processes. Its systems use cameras, sensors, software, and artificial intelligence to analyze images and identify products, defects, components, and other objects.

The company's product portfolio includes vision systems, industrial cameras, vision sensors, barcode readers, optical character recognition tools, three-dimensional vision systems, and machine vision software.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.