Cognex Corporation $CGNX Stock Position Increased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) by 53.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,491 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after buying an additional 13,785 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Cognex were worth $2,860,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cognex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Cognex during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Cognex during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Cognex by 635.4% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 478 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Cognex in the second quarter worth approximately $45,000. 88.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CGNX opened at $62.25 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.44 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.85. Cognex Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.60 and a 52 week high of $72.88.

Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) 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 the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $291.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $292.10 million. Cognex had a return on equity of 13.50% and a net margin of 16.05%.The business’s revenue was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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. On average, analysts predict that Cognex Corporation will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Cognex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were given a dividend of $0.085 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CGNX. HSBC downgraded Cognex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cognex from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Cognex from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Cognex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cognex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.64.

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.