Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Hold Rating for Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their hold rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) in a research report report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CTSH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $82.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $90.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $75.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $78.37.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $74.61 on Thursday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52 week low of $62.14 and a 52 week high of $80.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.46, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The information technology service provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.11. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.37%. The firm had revenue of $5.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 19th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 19th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 26.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CEO Ravi Kumar Singisetti sold 6,728 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.66, for a total value of $495,584.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 46,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,419,812.82. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,045,823 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $4,254,178,000 after purchasing an additional 6,933,908 shares during the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19,850.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 3,016,114 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $205,096,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000,996 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 18,609,898 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,265,473,000 after buying an additional 1,943,127 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 152.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,120,012 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $146,132,000 after buying an additional 1,281,236 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 276.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,588,528 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $122,603,000 after buying an additional 1,167,033 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

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.