Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Price Target Raised to $67.00

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) had its target price boosted by Needham & Company LLC from $47.00 to $67.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on CGNX. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Barclays set a $54.00 target price on shares of Cognex and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cognex in a report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $45.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.73.

Cognex Stock Performance

Cognex stock opened at $58.79 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.53. The company has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 87.75 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex has a fifty-two week low of $22.67 and a fifty-two week high of $59.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.05. Cognex had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 11.51%.The firm had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $238.92 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Cognex will post 0.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.085 per share. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.75%.

Insider Activity

In other Cognex news, Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.39, for a total value of $10,338,066.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Laura Ann Macdonald sold 14,881 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.16, for a total value of $850,597.96. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 2,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $126,437.92. This trade represents a 87.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cognex by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 318,984 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $14,450,000 after acquiring an additional 37,405 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Cognex by 13.4% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,025,371 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $361,382,000 after purchasing an additional 949,599 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Cognex by 43.9% during the third 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. IMC Chicago LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the third quarter worth $5,761,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of Cognex by 203.2% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 266,954 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $12,093,000 after buying an additional 178,911 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.12% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Cognex

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 earnings beat and revenue growth — Cognex reported $0.27 EPS vs. $0.22 expected and revenue of $252.3M (up ~10% YoY); the stronger-than-expected results and margin improvement were the primary upward catalyst. Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Raised Q1 guidance — management gave Q1 EPS and revenue guidance above Street estimates (EPS guide 0.220–0.260 vs. consensus ~0.200), supporting the outlook for continued recovery. Guidance & Call
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / price target lift — Needham raised its target from $47 to $67 and kept a Buy rating, reinforcing the bullish narrative and adding buy-side momentum. Analyst Raise
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend and shareholder-friendly actions mentioned on the call — Cognex declared a quarterly dividend and discussed portfolio optimization and buyback/dividend moves that support shareholder returns. Dividend & Call Highlights
• Neutral Sentiment: Positive press and commentary — multiple outlets (Seeking Alpha, Motley Fool, Benzinga) published bullish takes on the turnaround and long-term returns; useful for sentiment but reiterative. Feature Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest reporting shows no meaningful short positions in the available data (entries report zero/NaN), so short-squeeze pressure appears unlikely based on current figures.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales — Director Robert Willett sold ~177k shares (~$10.3M) and VP Laura Macdonald sold ~14.9k shares (~$850k). Big insider dispositions can temper sentiment even after strong results. Insider Filings
• Negative Sentiment: Emerging AI regulation risk — Cognex added a regulatory risk disclosure related to rising AI rules that could increase compliance costs and pressure margins over time. AI Regulation Risk

About Cognex

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.