USS Investment Management Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• USS Investment Management Ltd has significantly reduced its holdings in Cognex Corporation by 57.3%, now owning 27,167 shares valued at approximately $811,000.
• Several analysts have adjusted their target prices for Cognex, with recommendations ranging from a low of $30.00 to a high of $50.00, reflecting a generally optimistic outlook for the stock.
• Cognex recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.08 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.7% and a dividend payout ratio of 45.07%.

USS Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) by 57.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 27,167 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after selling 36,427 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Cognex were worth $811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Cognex by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,223 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its position in Cognex by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,267 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 17.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,698 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $230,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Cognex by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company's stock.

Cognex Stock Performance

CGNX stock traded down $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $44.39. 1,405,568 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,781,319. 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 52 week low of $22.67 and a 52 week high of $45.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.04.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $249.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $246.70 million. Cognex had a net margin of 13.13% and a return on equity of 6.65%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.23 earnings per share. Cognex has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.240-0.290 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 14th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 14th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognex news, EVP Sheila Marie Dipalma sold 2,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $90,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,582 shares in the company, valued at $386,190. This represents a 18.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CGNX shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Cognex from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Cognex from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up from $30.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Cognex from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Cognex from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.31.

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.