Cognizant Technology Solutions’ (CTSH) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on CTSH. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.22.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 4.2 %

CTSH opened at $87.09 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a twelve month low of $63.79 and a twelve month high of $87.61.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Transactions at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 867,176 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,348,102 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $257,469,000 after buying an additional 103,371 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 2,921,900 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $224,694,000 after buying an additional 443,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.0% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 2,784,668 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $214,141,000 after buying an additional 705,946 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by 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.