Evercore ISI Boosts Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Price Target to $70.00

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price target increased by Evercore ISI from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CTSH. Wedbush increased their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Guggenheim assumed coverage on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. They set a neutral rating and a $80.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on 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, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.38.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $73.29 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $76.84 and a 200 day moving average of $72.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 2.25. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 1 year low of $58.09 and a 1 year high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The information technology service provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.83% and a net margin of 10.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. This is an increase from Cognizant Technology Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 28.57%.

Insider Activity at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In related news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,312 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.7% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 60,098,017 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,923,199,000 after buying an additional 2,163,022 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,860,483,000 after buying an additional 7,445,089 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.2% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 22,415,954 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $1,365,793,000 after buying an additional 473,809 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% in the third 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 buying an additional 4,365,493 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.0% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,710,353 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $590,394,000 after acquiring an additional 93,518 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.