Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Receives $75.65 Average Price Target from Analysts

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $76.94.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (down previously from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,860,483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,445,089 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,415,954 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,365,793,000 after buying an additional 473,809 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,196,547,000 after buying an additional 4,365,493 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.0% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,710,353 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $590,394,000 after buying an additional 93,518 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,056,248 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $544,942,000 after buying an additional 231,782 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH opened at $67.44 on Wednesday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a one year low of $58.09 and a one year high of $80.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.45 and a 200-day moving average of $72.51. The company has a market capitalization of $33.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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, Health Sciences, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media and Technology.