William Blair Investment Management LLC Takes $65.97 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

Key Points

• William Blair Investment Management initiated a $65.97 million position in Cognex, buying 910,938 shares, while institutional investors collectively own 88.12% of the company.
• Cognex reported quarterly earnings of $0.45 per share, beating estimates by $0.03, as revenue increased 16.9% year over year to $291.26 million. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $75.64.
• Cognex shares opened at $60.54, below the 50-day moving average of $64.92, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.085 per share, representing a 0.6% annualized yield.

William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 910,938 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $65,970,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned 0.54% of Cognex as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CGNX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,158,123,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in Cognex by 173,138.2% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 10,477,448 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $376,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,471,400 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cognex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,103,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,388,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth approximately $129,348,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CGNX shares. DA Davidson set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cognex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.64.

Insider Activity at Cognex

In other news, VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Cognex Price Performance

Shares of CGNX opened at $60.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.78 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's 50 day simple moving average is $64.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.76.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.03. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The firm had revenue of $291.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Cognex's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Cognex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.01%.

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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