Advisors Asset Management Inc. Purchases 11,751 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Cognex Corporation by 1,039.9% during the first quarter, owning 12,881 shares valued at approximately $384,000.
• Cognex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, with a payout ratio of 45.07%, showcasing financial stability.
• Analysts have varying ratings on Cognex stock, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $42.31, indicating ongoing interest in the company's performance.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 1,039.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,751 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Cognex by 51.3% during the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 48,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,451,000 after buying an additional 16,489 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Cognex by 155.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $230,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex in the first quarter worth approximately $369,000. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its position in Cognex by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 457,636 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $16,411,000 after acquiring an additional 14,396 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on CGNX shares. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Cognex in a report on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $43.07.

Cognex Stock Up 0.2%

Cognex stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $44.24. The stock had a trading volume of 2,089,011 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,787,144. The company has a market cap of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 62.31 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.20. Cognex Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $45.23.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The company had revenue of $249.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were given a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total transaction of $90,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $296,387.46. This trade represents a 23.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

About Cognex

Cognex Corporation provides machine vision products that capture and analyze visual information to automate manufacturing and distribution tasks worldwide. Its machine vision products are used to automate the manufacturing and tracking of discrete items, including mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, and e-commerce packages by locating, identifying, inspecting, and measuring them during the manufacturing or distribution process.