Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 328,427 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its Cognex stake by 76.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 328,427 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 758,831 shares valued at about $27.3 million.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with major investors like Vanguard, Northwestern Mutual, Nordea, and Pictet also adding to their positions; institutions now own 88.12% of Cognex.
• Cognex reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings and revenue, with EPS of $0.34 versus $0.25 expected and revenue up 24.3% year over year, while analysts currently rate the stock a “Moderate Buy” with a consensus target of $69.36.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 76.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 758,831 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 328,427 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned 0.45% of Cognex worth $27,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,598,728 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $842,522,000 after acquiring an additional 374,999 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $376,979,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,101,583 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $292,224,000 after acquiring an additional 76,212 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $252,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $151,264,000 after acquiring an additional 40,927 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Cognex

In other news, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.80, for a total transaction of $6,554,549.60. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. This represents a 94.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Angelos Papadimitriou sold 4,150 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.58, for a total transaction of $230,657.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,222 shares in the company, valued at $901,618.76. The trade was a 20.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,745 shares of company stock worth $13,862,237. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CGNX. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $68.00 target price (up from $60.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $72.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.36.

Cognex Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of CGNX stock opened at $60.65 on Wednesday. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $29.00 and a 12-month high of $71.90. The company has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 72.20 and a beta of 1.48. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $54.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.15.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.09. Cognex had a net margin of 13.62% and a return on equity of 10.89%. The company had revenue of $268.44 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 24.3% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.48%.

Cognex 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.

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.