Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $92.53.
Several research firms recently weighed in on CTSH. Cowen reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $98.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, May 9th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 5th. Cowen dropped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $98.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, May 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 11th.
CTSH opened at $69.91 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $78.62 and its 200-day moving average is $83.77. The firm has a market cap of $36.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.22. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52-week low of $66.19 and a 52-week high of $93.47.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 4th. The information technology service provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.83 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 19.07% and a net margin of 11.59%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 20th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 19th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.90%.
In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Andrew J. Stafford sold 5,867 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.24, for a total value of $453,167.08. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,872 shares in the company, valued at $453,553.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 5,687 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total value of $423,112.80. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 57,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,280,529.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,540,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 40.6% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,251,722 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,098,612,000 after buying an additional 3,537,761 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 5,934,516 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $526,510,000 after buying an additional 1,979,276 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,685,153 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $593,070,000 after buying an additional 1,405,697 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,072,441 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,514,667,000 after buying an additional 1,139,513 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.73% of the company’s stock.
About Cognizant Technology Solutions (Get Rating)
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation, a professional services company, provides consulting and technology, and outsourcing services in North America, Europe, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Financial Services; Healthcare; Products and Resources; and Communications, Media and Technology.
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