Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired 16,855 shares of Cognex Corporation, worth approximately $535,000, during the second quarter.
• Cognex reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.25 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations by $0.02, with a revenue increase of 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, reflecting a 0.7% yield with a payout ratio of 45.07%.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,855 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $535,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CGNX. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Cognex by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,223 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Cognex by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 11,591 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $346,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Cognex by 1.8% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 24,301 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $725,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Cognex by 17.0% during the first quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,357 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $101,000 after buying an additional 487 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $386,190. This represents a 18.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Stock Down 0.0%

Cognex stock traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $46.52. 785,132 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,096,198. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.49 and a beta of 1.50. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $47.52. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $41.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.58.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $249.09 million during 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%. Cognex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $43.07.

Cognex Company 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.