The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Takes $8.54 Million Position in Cognex Corporation $CGNX

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 117,970 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,543,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Cognex at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CGNX. Front Street Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cognex during the 2nd quarter valued at $90,581,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex in the second quarter worth $295,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the second quarter valued at $674,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Cognex during the second quarter valued at $7,674,000. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. purchased a new position in Cognex during the second quarter worth about $279,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CGNX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 target price (up from $72.00) on shares of Cognex in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Cognex in a research report on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.64.

Cognex Price Performance

NASDAQ:CGNX opened at $60.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.70 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50 day moving average of $64.43 and a 200 day moving average of $59.46. Cognex Corporation has a 1-year low of $34.60 and a 1-year high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $292.10 million. Cognex had a net margin of 16.05% and a return on equity of 13.50%. The business’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. Cognex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.540 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Cognex’s payout ratio is currently 33.01%.

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.