Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Short Interest Update

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,310,000 shares, a decrease of 13.3% from the January 15th total of 18,810,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,080,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Unison Advisors LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,595 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 24,965 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,920,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 711 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,884 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $222,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,795 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $369,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $1.93 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $88.77. 7,778,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,273,330. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 1 year low of $63.79 and a 1 year high of $90.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.55 and a 200-day moving average of $78.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 16.78% and a net margin of 11.35%. As a group, analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. 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. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is 26.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTSH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.67.

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.