Cognex: A Director’s Exit, or Just Shuffling the Deck?

by

Robert Willett, a name on the Cognex board, recently moved some paper. Two thousand, one hundred and forty-eight shares, to be exact. A tidy sum, around $128,000. The kind of transaction that usually sets the rumor mills grinding, but this one felt… curated. Like a magician revealing a trick, then pointing to his sleeve.

The Numbers, Cold and Hard

Metric Value
Shares Sold (Direct) 2,148
Transaction Value ~$128,000
Direct Shares Remaining 0
Indirect Shares 15,804

The fine print says it was tied to an option exercise. A neat little dance where Willett cashed in some paper, then immediately sold the resulting shares. The weighted average price came in around $59.50. The market closed at $58.79 that day. A difference so small, it could have been lost in the static. It smelled less like a conviction, more like a pre-arranged agreement.

Asking the Right Questions (And Not Expecting Answers)

Willett still holds a substantial stake through the Willett Parkhill Investment Trust and a mountain of options – over 1.4 million of them. So, the sale didn’t exactly leave him penniless. It was a sliver off a very large pie. The question isn’t if he’s exposed to Cognex, but how much he’s willing to risk.

This wasn’t some desperate scramble for cash. It was a controlled burn, a tidy clearing of direct holdings. Like a man pruning his rose bushes before a storm. He shed just under 12% of his total holdings, but retained the bulk of his power. A power that still allows him to manipulate the stock to his whim.

The official story is a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The insider’s shield, they call it. A way to avoid looking like you’re trading on information you shouldn’t have. It’s a convenient fiction, and everyone plays along. Like a polite nod at a funeral.

The Company: Machines That See

Metric Value
Price (Feb 13, 2026) $59.50
Revenue (TTM) $994.36 million
Net Income (TTM) $114.44 million
1-Year Price Change 79.51%

Cognex builds the eyes for the machines. Machine vision systems, sensors, barcode readers. They sell automation to factories, logistics hubs, anyone who needs to see what their robots are doing. They’re riding the wave of efficiency, of replacing human hands with cold, calculating steel. It’s a good business, as long as the gears keep turning.

They’ve seen a healthy jump in revenue, around 9% year over year. The demand for their technology is strong, fueled by the AI hype. Everyone wants to automate, to streamline, to squeeze every last drop of profit out of their operations. It’s a relentless machine, and Cognex is selling the parts.

What It Means (Or Doesn’t) For You

Willett’s sale, taken in isolation, isn’t a signal to run. But it’s a reminder that even those at the top have an exit strategy. The stock is trading at a lofty valuation – a price-to-earnings ratio exceeding 82. It’s a good time for those in to consider taking some chips off the table. But for those on the sidelines, waiting for a dip might be the smarter play. The market giveth, and the market taketh away. And it rarely does so with a straight face.

Read More

2026-02-22 23:22