Truist Financial Corp Sells 60,750 Shares of Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• Truist Financial cut its Cognex stake by 69.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 60,750 shares and leaving it with 26,660 shares valued at about $959,000.
• Cognex reported better-than-expected Q1 results, with EPS of $0.34 versus a $0.25 estimate and revenue of $268.44 million, up 24.3% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock, with multiple firms raising price targets and Cognex carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $69.36.

Truist Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 69.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,660 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 60,750 shares during the quarter. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Cognex were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of CGNX. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cognex by 18,810.9% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,794,649 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $56,657,000 after purchasing an additional 1,785,159 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Cognex by 27.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,013,184 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $252,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529,010 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Cognex by 43.9% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,024,355 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $137,003,000 after purchasing an additional 922,149 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Cognex by 10,861.7% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 782,776 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $35,460,000 after purchasing an additional 775,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Cognex by 342.2% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 974,865 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $44,162,000 after purchasing an additional 754,389 shares in the last quarter. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on CGNX. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $75.00 target price (up from $64.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson set a $62.00 price target on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Cognex in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $70.00 target price (up from $50.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Cognex from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognex currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $69.36.

Cognex Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of CGNX opened at $64.26 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.50 and a beta of 1.48. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $29.00 and a 12 month high of $71.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.97.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $268.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.98 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 10.89% and a net margin of 13.62%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. Cognex has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.440 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is presently 40.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Mark Fennell sold 64,873 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.05, for a total value of $4,349,734.65. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 11,263 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $755,184.15. This represents a 85.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 41,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.56, for a total value of $2,727,296.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 5,258 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $344,714.48. The trade was a 88.78% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 208,745 shares of company stock valued at $13,862,237. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Cognex

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KeyCorp raised its earnings estimates across multiple periods for Cognex, including a big increase to FY2026 EPS and a higher FY2027 forecast, while keeping an Overweight rating and $70 price target. That suggests Wall Street sees stronger profitability ahead. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another Zacks item highlighted Cognex as a momentum name, reflecting improving market sentiment and technical strength around the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage also pointed to strong adoption of Cognex OneVision and the launch of the In-Sight 3900 embedded AI vision system, reinforcing the company’s push into AI-enabled industrial automation. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Cognex also announced that CFO Dennis Fehr will present at the TD Cowen Technology, Media & Telecom Conference later this month, which is more of a visibility event than a direct catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: A filing noted that Laura Ann Macdonald sold a large block of Cognex shares, which may weigh on sentiment slightly, though this is likely less important than the upbeat earnings and product news. Article Title

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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