147,002 Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX Acquired by Granite Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Granite Investment Partners LLC disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Cognex, buying 147,002 shares valued at about $7.2 million, or roughly 0.09% of the company.
• Cognex reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with earnings of $0.34 per share and revenue of $268.44 million, both above analyst estimates. Revenue also rose 24.3% from a year ago.
• Analysts remain generally positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of about $71.14. Several firms recently lifted price targets, while insiders also sold a significant number of shares during the quarter.

Granite Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 147,002 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $7,202,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Cognex as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognex by 124.5% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 98,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $3,542,000 after buying an additional 54,600 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 76,212 shares in the last quarter. One Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter worth about $1,945,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 19.1% in the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 477,658 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $17,186,000 after acquiring an additional 76,540 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 23.7% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 1,611,602 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $73,006,000 after acquiring an additional 308,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX opened at $64.11 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $64.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.16. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $32.55 and a 1 year high of $72.88. The company has a market capitalization of $10.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.32 and a beta of 1.49.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex's revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CGNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their price target on Cognex from $61.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price objective on Cognex and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $71.14.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 5,258 shares of the company's stock, valued at $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.70% 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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