Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) Short Interest Up 13.0% in October

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,490,000 shares, a growth of 13.0% from the October 15th total of 13,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter worth $968,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.8% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,172 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $636,000 after acquiring an additional 1,052 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,280,223 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,022,728,000 after purchasing an additional 173,667 shares during the period. Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $341,000. Finally, Continuum Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 50,681 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $4,093,000 after purchasing an additional 4,634 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CTSH shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com cut Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.47.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $77.47. 674,665 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,812,224. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.93. 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 company has a market cap of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.06, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 12 month low of $63.79 and a 12 month high of $82.41.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $5.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.55%.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.