Brokerages Set Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Price Target at $77.44

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $77.44.

CTSH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Bank of America upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $77.87 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52 week low of $62.14 and a 52 week high of $80.27. The stock has a market cap of $38.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.72, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The information technology service provider reported $1.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.39% and a return on equity of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.80 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 20th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total transaction of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 46,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,419,812.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% during 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 period. Blair William & Co. IL boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 16,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,231,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 373.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 76,159 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $5,752,000 after purchasing an additional 60,086 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,687,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $233,000. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.