Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $81.19.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CTSH. Barclays upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen increased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,340,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $363,153,000 after buying an additional 142,225 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,844,882 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $329,452,000 after buying an additional 67,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,244,731 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $250,428,000 after buying an additional 44,129 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $77.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12-month low of $63.79 and a 12-month high of $82.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.38. The company has a market capitalization of $38.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.10. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.08% and a net margin of 11.60%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 19th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 26.55%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.