Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Price Target Cut to $75.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price target reduced by Barclays from $80.00 to $75.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

CTSH has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a neutral rating and a $82.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $90.00 to $82.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Societe Generale reissued a sell rating and issued a $67.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $76.13.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH opened at $66.94 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a twelve month low of $58.47 and a twelve month high of $80.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $72.50. The firm has a market cap of $33.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction of $69,354.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,860,483,000 after purchasing an additional 7,445,089 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 17,663,814 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,196,547,000 after acquiring an additional 4,365,493 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,056,248 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $544,942,000 after purchasing an additional 231,782 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 5.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,177,547 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $418,467,000 after purchasing an additional 294,415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,433,474 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $410,406,000 after purchasing an additional 238,551 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.