Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twenty-three ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.58.

CTSH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $57.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, January 9th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $68.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $54.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the second quarter worth $26,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 77.0% during the second quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 393 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 75.6% during the third quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management now owns 504 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the period. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the second quarter worth $49,000. Finally, Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 492.9% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 587 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. 90.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ CTSH opened at $57.98 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.53 billion, a PE ratio of 13.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 1 year low of $51.33 and a 1 year high of $93.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.79 and its 200-day moving average is $61.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The information technology service provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.79% and a return on equity of 18.92%. The business had revenue of $4.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.51 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 26.24%.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

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Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. engages in the provision of information technology, consulting, and business process outsourcing services. It operates through the following business segments: Financial Services, Healthcare, Products and Resources, and Communications, Media, and Technology. The Financial Services segment consists of banking and insurance services.