Barclays Raises Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Price Target to $80.00

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price target upped by Barclays from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CTSH. Mizuho reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $75.75.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

CTSH stock opened at $74.57 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $68.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock has a market cap of $37.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.05. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52-week low of $62.14 and a 52-week high of $80.09.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The information technology service provider reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.01. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.48% and a net margin of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 17th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is currently 28.85%.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CTSH. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 79.1% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 437 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 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.