Royal Bank of Canada Sells 18,885 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its Cognex stake by 13.5%, selling 18,885 shares and retaining 121,253 shares valued at approximately $5.94 million. Institutional investors collectively own 88.12% of Cognex, while a company vice president also sold 20,252 shares.
• Cognex reported quarterly EPS of $0.45, beating estimates of $0.42, while revenue rose 16.9% year over year to $291.26 million. The company issued fiscal 2026 EPS guidance of $1.64–$1.68.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $75.64, above the stock’s cited price of $62.90. Cognex also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, implying a 0.5% annual yield.

Royal Bank of Canada lessened its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 121,253 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 18,885 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.07% of Cognex worth $5,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in shares of Cognex by 173,138.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 10,471,400 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Cognex by 27.9% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Cognex by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,314,896 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $191,231,000 after buying an additional 1,258,629 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its stake in Cognex by 0.9% during the second quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 4,768,716 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $151,264,000 after buying an additional 40,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 27.1% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.34, for a total value of $1,343,517.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 3,990 shares in the company, valued at $264,696.60. The trade was a 83.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

CGNX stock opened at $62.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.07 and a beta of 1.49. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.60 and a 1-year high of $72.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $64.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.61.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 16.05%.The company had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $292.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Cognex's revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CGNX shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group set a $75.00 price target on Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Cognex from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Seaport Research Partners set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.64.

About Cognex

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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