Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys Shares of 67,582 Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Rice Hall James & Associates purchased 67,582 Cognex shares worth approximately $4.9 million, while institutional investors collectively own 88.12% of the company.
• Cognex reported quarterly EPS of $0.45, exceeding estimates by $0.03, as revenue rose 16.9% year over year to $291.26 million. The company issued full-year 2026 EPS guidance of $1.64–$1.68.
• Shares opened at $66.60, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with a $75.64 average price target. Cognex also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, yielding 0.5% annually.

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 67,582 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $4,894,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CGNX. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Cognex by 173,138.2% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 27.9% in 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 buying an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Cognex by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $191,231,000 after buying an additional 1,258,629 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its position in shares of Cognex by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,950,299 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $142,154,000 after acquiring an additional 842,783 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognex Stock Up 1.5%

CGNX stock opened at $66.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $64.95 and a 200 day moving average of $58.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.20 billion, a PE ratio of 64.66 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.60 and a 52 week high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. Cognex's revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Cognex's payout ratio is 33.01%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cognex from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $75.00 price objective on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at $264,696.60. This represents a 83.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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