Sciencast Management LP Has $757,000 Stake in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP sold 19,211 shares of Cognex Corporation, reducing its stake by 43.1%, leaving it with 25,369 shares valued at $757,000.
• Various institutional investors have increased their positions in Cognex, with Farther Finance Advisors LLC raising its stake by 439.4% during the first quarter.
• Cognex recently reported earnings of $0.25 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share with a yield of 0.7%.

Sciencast Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 43.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,369 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 19,211 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in Cognex were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CGNX. Covestor Ltd lifted its position 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 worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 7.4% during the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $230,000 after purchasing an additional 532 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cognex by 155.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. 88.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $386,190. This trade represents a 18.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CGNX. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (up previously from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, July 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised shares of Cognex from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Melius upgraded shares of Cognex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.31.

Cognex Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ:CGNX traded down $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $44.39. 1,405,568 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,781,319. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $39.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.45 billion, a PE ratio of 62.52 and a beta of 1.50. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $246.70 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 13.13%.Cognex's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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