Cognex Corporation $CGNX Shares Sold by Peregrine Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Peregrine Investment Management Inc. has drastically cut its stake in Cognex Corporation by 83.2%, holding only 34,060 shares after selling 169,260 shares in the second quarter.
• Other hedge funds, such as T. Rowe Price and Mackenzie Financial, have increased their positions in Cognex, indicating a shift in investment sentiment toward the company.
• Cognex recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.25, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share with an annualized yield of 0.7%.

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 83.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,060 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 169,260 shares during the period. Cognex accounts for about 0.7% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Cognex were worth $1,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex by 32.0% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $181,436,000 after buying an additional 1,474,832 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Cognex by 126.2% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 4,609,802 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $137,510,000 after buying an additional 2,571,457 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Cognex by 34.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,539,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $75,756,000 after buying an additional 647,955 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Cognex by 1.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $63,584,000 after buying an additional 38,857 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cognex by 5.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,507,022 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $44,954,000 after buying an additional 79,266 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $90,090.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares of the company's stock, valued at $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2%

CGNX stock opened at $46.43 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a twelve month low of $22.67 and a twelve month high of $47.52. The company's 50 day moving average is $41.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.40 and a beta of 1.50.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th were issued a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's payout ratio is presently 45.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Melius raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $43.07.

Cognex Profile

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.

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