Empowered Funds LLC Takes $2 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC acquired 27,624 Cognex shares during the second quarter, establishing a position valued at approximately $2 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 88.12% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with Cognex carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $75.64, despite one downgrade to “Hold.”
• Cognex exceeded quarterly EPS estimates, reporting $0.45 versus $0.42 expected, while revenue rose 16.9% year over year to $291.26 million. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, yielding about 0.6% annually.

Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 27,624 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $2,001,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Cognex by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 39,853 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Cognex by 3.2% in the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 6,793 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Cognex by 3.7% in the first quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 6,073 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $298,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Cognex by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 22,907 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $824,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Essential Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 12.5% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 2,153 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Cognex from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens upped their price target on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.64.

Cognex Trading Up 1.4%

CGNX stock opened at $60.79 on Friday. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.60 and a 1-year high of $72.88. The firm has a market cap of $10.23 billion, a PE ratio of 59.02 and a beta of 1.49. The business's 50-day moving average price is $64.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.83.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $291.26 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $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. On average, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 20th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.01%.

About Cognex

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.

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.