Needham Investment Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Needham Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Cognex Corporation by 21.3% in the first quarter, owning approximately 0.09% of the company worth $4.64 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently increased their price targets on Cognex shares, with ratings ranging from Neutral to Buy, reflecting strong investor interest and optimism.
• Cognex reported a quarterly EPS of $0.25, exceeding analysts' expectations, along with a revenue increase of 4.2% year-over-year, indicating solid financial performance.

Needham Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 42,000 shares during the period. Needham Investment Management LLC owned 0.09% of Cognex worth $4,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Cognex by 126.2% during the 1st 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. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Cognex by 32.0% in 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 buying an additional 1,474,832 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Cognex by 16,472.8% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 819,028 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $24,432,000 after buying an additional 814,086 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Cognex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,191,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Cognex by 34.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,539,557 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $75,756,000 after buying an additional 647,955 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $386,190. This trade represents a 18.92% decrease in their position. 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 insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.31.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX traded up $0.39 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $44.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 597,142 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,078,988. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.06 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.88. Cognex Corporation has a 1 year low of $22.67 and a 1 year high of $45.23.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.23 EPS. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

About Cognex

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.