Swedbank AB Sells 100,000 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Swedbank AB reduced its stake in Cognex Corporation by 6.3%, owning approximately 1.5 million shares worth about $47.58 million after selling 100,000 shares in the second quarter.
• Analysts have shown a bullish outlook on Cognex, with various rating upgrades, including a raised target price from $30.00 to $32.00 by Robert W. Baird and a price objective increase to $60.00 by Melius.
• Cognex Corporation recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.25 for the quarter, surpassing expectations and indicating a 4.2% year-over-year revenue growth.

Swedbank AB reduced its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,500,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 100,000 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned about 0.89% of Cognex worth $47,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 439.4% in the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 971 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the first 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 during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Cognex by 231.9% in the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,082 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Cognex by 105.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,280 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $90,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $386,190. The trade was a 18.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

NASDAQ CGNX traded up $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.31. 321,462 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,093,465. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $41.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.58. The company has a market cap of $7.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.57 and a beta of 1.50. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $22.67 and a 1-year high of $47.52.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $37.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, July 14th. KeyCorp raised 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. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Cognex from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.