Cognex Corporation $CGNX Holdings Decreased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Cognex Corporation by 59.3%, selling 1,320,554 shares during the first quarter, leaving it with 904,690 shares valued at approximately $26.99 million.
• Analysts are generally positive on Cognex, with TD Cowen upgrading the stock to a "buy" rating and multiple firms increasing their price targets, suggesting a consensus price target of $42.31.
• Cognex recently reported earnings of $0.25 per share, beating expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.7%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 59.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 904,690 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 1,320,554 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.54% of Cognex worth $26,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 17.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $230,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Cognex by 105.5% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Trading Down 0.5%

CGNX stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $44.03. 1,857,610 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,105,349. Cognex Corporation has a 12-month low of $22.67 and a 12-month high of $45.03. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $36.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.01 and a beta of 1.47.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.The company had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $246.70 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 EPS. Cognex's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 14th will be issued 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 is Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's payout ratio is 45.07%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CGNX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 price target (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. One 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $42.31.

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.