Front Street Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Front Street Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Cognex Corporation by 8.6%, acquiring an additional 109,402 shares, making Cognex its 4th largest position.
• Cognex recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.25, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, marking a year-over-year increase of 4.2%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08, translating to an annualized yield of 0.7%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 45.07%.

Front Street Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 8.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,387,075 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 109,402 shares during the quarter. Cognex accounts for about 7.9% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Front Street Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.83% of Cognex worth $41,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,082,319 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $181,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,474,832 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,571,457 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Cognex by 34.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 647,955 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognex by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 2,256,640 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $80,923,000 after buying an additional 25,492 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,131,538 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $63,584,000 after buying an additional 38,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognex

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,000 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.03, for a total transaction of $90,060.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 6,582 shares in the company, valued at $296,387.46. The trade was a 23.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.49. 652,294 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,085,353. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $45.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.96. The company has a market cap of $7.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.68 and a beta of 1.50.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CGNX shares. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Melius upgraded Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.31.

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.