Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $38.09 Million Stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 620,926 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,697 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Cognizant Technology Solutions worth $38,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 20,262,362 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,243,096,000 after purchasing an additional 2,633,683 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 12,534,198 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $840,669,000 after purchasing an additional 987,395 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at about $690,959,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $673,651,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,680,508 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $554,482,000 after buying an additional 2,122,600 shares in the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Shares of CTSH stock opened at $44.77 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.08 and a 1 year high of $87.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.46 and its 200-day moving average is $61.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.41 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.41% and a return on equity of 17.50%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.630-5.770 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, May 18th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the information technology service provider to reacquire up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a $0.33 dividend. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CTSH. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $87.00 to $68.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $92.00 to $74.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $75.00 price objective on Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wedbush raised Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $44.00 target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.26.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ: CTSH) is a global professional services company that provides information technology, consulting and business process services to large enterprises. Its core offerings include digital engineering, application development and maintenance, cloud migration and managed services, data analytics and artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and industry-specific solutions. Cognizant works with clients to design and implement technology-enabled transformations that address customer experience, operational efficiency and new product and service delivery.

Founded in the 1990s and headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey, Cognizant has grown into a multinational organization with delivery centers and operations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.