$1.09 EPS Expected for Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) This Quarter

Equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) will post earnings of $1.09 per share for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Six analysts have made estimates for Cognizant Technology Solutions’ earnings, with estimates ranging from $1.07 to $1.13. Cognizant Technology Solutions posted earnings per share of $0.99 in the same quarter last year, which indicates a positive year-over-year growth rate of 10.1%. The firm is expected to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will report full year earnings of $4.51 per share for the current fiscal year, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.46 to $4.57. For the next fiscal year, analysts forecast that the firm will post earnings of $5.01 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $4.86 to $5.20. Zacks’ EPS calculations are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that follow Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The information technology service provider reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.04. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.59% and a return on equity of 19.07%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CTSH shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $92.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 3rd. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $79.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, May 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $95.00 to $88.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Finally, Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $98.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $91.69.

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH traded up $1.99 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $74.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,524,534 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,163,554. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $84.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12 month low of $66.19 and a 12 month high of $93.47. The firm has a market cap of $38.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.10.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 31st. Investors of record on Friday, May 20th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.90%.

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Andrew J. Stafford sold 5,867 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.24, for a total value of $453,167.08. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,553.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael Patsalos-Fox sold 5,687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.40, for a total transaction of $423,112.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,534 shares in the company, valued at $4,280,529.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 16,332 shares of company stock valued at $1,299,228. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the first quarter worth $371,000. Advisory Services Network LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 23.0% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 8,016 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $719,000 after buying an additional 1,499 shares during the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 12,480 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,119,000 after buying an additional 1,408 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,619,591 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $952,259,000 after buying an additional 1,095,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. 90.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions (Get Rating)

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; Healthcare; Products and Resources; and Communications, Media and Technology.

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