Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) PT Lowered to $82.00

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $90.00 to $82.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on CTSH. Wedbush raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $74.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Societe Generale restated a sell rating and issued a $67.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $80.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $76.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $66.76 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.06. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a twelve month low of $58.09 and a twelve month high of $80.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.51. The company has a quick ratio of 2.25, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.14. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total value of $69,354.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,522.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Vision Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vision Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,612 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $2,916,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 3,756 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $284,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.5% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 773 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.4% during the third quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,241 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Unison Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.6% during the first quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 29,226 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $2,142,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.