Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Boosts Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its Cognex stake by 44% in the first quarter, buying 16,651 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 54,462 shares worth about $2.67 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive, with several analysts raising price targets or upgrading ratings; Cognex now carries a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.14.
• Insiders sold shares recently, including large sales by Mark Fennell and Laura Ann Macdonald, while Cognex also reported better-than-expected quarterly results with revenue up 24.3% year over year.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 44.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,462 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,651 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Cognex were worth $2,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 1.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 12.9% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 2,132 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 4.5% in the first quarter. Evolve Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its stake in Cognex by 0.5% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 54,349 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,462,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in Cognex by 74.8% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 764 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. 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 research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,263 shares in the company, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 98,122 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president owned 5,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,234.40. The trade was a 94.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 224,847 shares of company stock valued at $14,975,098. Insiders own 1.70% of the company's stock.

Cognex Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $64.11 on Thursday. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $32.55 and a 12 month high of $72.88. The stock has a market cap of $10.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 76.32 and a beta of 1.49. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $64.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.16.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.Cognex's quarterly revenue was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 1.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex's payout ratio is 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.

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