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CGNX COGNEX CORP Insider Trading

Latest: CLO Sold $4.3M of Shares · May 2026
3 filings analyzed · Latest 2026-05-28
Insider buys
0
Insider sells
3
Unique insiders
3
Direction
Net selling
May 2026
2026-05-28
medium
Darren Marc Long Sell
Vice President
20,252 shares
$1,343,457
@ $66.34
Significance 5/10

VP Darren Marc Long sold 20,252 shares (83.5% reduction) at $66.32–$66.52 for $1.3M while retaining 3,990 non-derivative shares and 194,617 in derivative holdings.

Darren Marc Long, Vice President at Cognex, executed four separate sales on 2026-05-27, totaling 20,252 shares for $1,343,456.61 at a blended average price of $66.34. This sale reduced his non-derivative holdings from 24,242 shares to 3,990 shares, representing an 83.5% reduction. However, the insider retains substantial derivative exposure: 16 ownership vehicles (Non-Qualified Stock Options and Restricted Stock Units) representing 194,617 total shares in contingent form, indicating this is a partial reduction of liquid equity rather than an exit of overall economic interest. The current stock price of $66.01 is -8.2% from its 52-week high of $71.90, and the stock has appreciated 22.8% over the past 30 days and 21.3% over the past 90 days, placing this sale in a period of recent strength. With a P/E of 97.07 and net income of $51,704,000.00 on revenue of $268,437,000.00, the company carries a elevated valuation multiple; the sale warrants monitoring as a data point on insider asset allocation decisions at current price levels.

2026-05-12
medium
Fennell Mark Sell
Chief Legal Officer &Secretary
64,873 shares
$4,349,979
@ $67.05
Significance 5/10

CLO Fennell exercises stock options and sells significant position, disposing of more shares than acquired; first Form 4 activity for this insider.

Mark Fennell, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Cognex, exercised stock options to acquire over 60,000 shares on a single trading day and simultaneously sold nearly 65,000 shares at the same elevated price, resulting in a modest net reduction of holdings. The exercises covered a wide range of strike prices spanning from the low thirties to the mid-fifties, all executed and liquidated at the current trading price, which stands at the top of the company's 52-week range after a sharp rally over the preceding months. This is Fennell's first open-market activity recorded in the Form 4 system within the three-year window, suggesting either a new position or a first-time filing event rather than an established pattern. The structure—exercising vested options and immediately selling—is a common tax and liquidity management approach for officers, though the scale of the transaction and the pristine timing at the cycle high warrants attention as part of broader insider positioning in a profitable company trading at a stretched valuation multiple.

2026-05-12
low
Laura Ann Macdonald Sell
VP and PAO
139,722 shares
$9,282,195
@ $66.43
Significance 3/10

VP exercised stock options and immediately sold all shares on same days, resulting in modest net reduction in holdings.

Laura Ann Macdonald, VP and PAO at Cognex, exercised roughly 137,500 shares across nine transactions between May 11–12, immediately selling approximately 139,700 shares on the same or next day, netting a small reduction in holdings. This pattern—exercise followed by same-day sale at a meaningfully higher price—is typical of tax-efficient option monetization rather than a statement about conviction in the stock. The stock is trading near its 52-week high after a sharp rally over the past three months, and Macdonald's sales occurred at prices well above the exercise prices, capturing most of the intrinsic value without holding overnight. Her filing history shows ten open-market sales in the past three years and no open-market purchases, consistent with a pattern of exercising stock compensation and liquidating for proceeds rather than accumulating. For a profitable company with growing revenue, this looks like routine compensation realization by a named officer—the type of mechanical sell-to-exercise that occurs across thousands of filers each year—rather than meaningful insider sentiment about the stock's near-term direction.

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