Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Receives $75.73 Average Price Target from Analysts

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $75.38.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Friday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $76.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at about $256,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 84.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 269,207 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $24,140,000 after acquiring an additional 123,220 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.4% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 17,774 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the first quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 18.7% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,484 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 1.7 %

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock opened at $73.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.93 and a 200 day moving average of $72.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12-month low of $58.09 and a 12-month high of $80.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.