Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Price Target Raised to $103.00 at Barclays

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $95.00 to $103.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on CTSH. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price 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. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.67.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.9 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $86.96 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.65. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $87.61. The stock has a market cap of $43.12 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. Equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $369,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 9,153 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 4,336 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Argent Advisors Inc. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 12,607 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $969,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

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.