Cognex (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Robert Willett Sells 177,052 Shares

Cognex Corporation (NASDAQ:CGNX) Director Robert Willett sold 177,052 shares of Cognex stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Cognex Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ CGNX opened at $58.79 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.85 billion, a PE ratio of 87.75 and a beta of 1.53. Cognex Corporation has a 12 month low of $22.67 and a 12 month high of $59.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.48.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $252.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $238.92 million. Cognex had a net margin of 11.51% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognex Corporation will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 26th will be issued a $0.085 dividend. This represents a $0.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 26th. Cognex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.13%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognex

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. REAP Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Cognex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Cognex by 402.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 919 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 736 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cognex in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cognex during the second quarter worth about $29,000. 88.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CGNX. DA Davidson set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Cognex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Cognex from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $50.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Cognex from $47.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cognex in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.73.

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.