Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Morgan Stanley

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its price target decreased by Morgan Stanley from $70.00 to $68.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the information technology service provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CTSH. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, October 9th. Susquehanna set a $82.00 target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $65.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.96.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $65.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $29.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $62.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.29. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52 week low of $37.08 and a 52 week high of $87.03.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.75% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.39 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be paid a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $1.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.09%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cognizant Technology Solutions

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,404,918 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $392,947,000 after buying an additional 222,819 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 9.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 6,177,881 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $379,013,000 after buying an additional 520,532 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 925.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,652,358 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $141,456,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,205 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 27.2% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 3,471,681 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $213,004,000 after purchasing an additional 742,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 289.6% during the third quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 2,905,584 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $166,897,000 after buying an additional 2,159,704 shares during the last quarter. 92.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Cognizant Technology Solutions

Here are the key news stories impacting Cognizant Technology Solutions this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter earnings exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS was $1.49 versus the $1.46 consensus, while revenue reached $5.66 billion, slightly above estimates and 4.6% higher year over year. Adjusted operating margin expanded to 16.3%, and free cash flow totaled $1.58 billion. Cognizant Reports Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Cognizant is scaling its OpenAI business. The company created an OpenAI Frontier Capability Group with more than 25,000 professionals to deliver products such as ChatGPT and Codex. The initiative could support future demand as enterprises move generative AI into production, although no immediate revenue impact was provided. Cognizant OpenAI announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Shareholder returns remain supportive. Cognizant declared a quarterly dividend of $0.33 per share and repurchased approximately $258 million of stock during the quarter.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views are mixed. Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $68 and maintained an “equal weight” rating, while RBC raised its target to $55 but kept a “sector perform” rating.
• Negative Sentiment: Bookings raised concerns about future growth. Third-quarter bookings declined 7% year over year, and roughly four percentage points of reported revenue growth came from acquisitions and resold products, implying slower underlying growth. Cognizant bookings and AI analysis
• Negative Sentiment: 2026 guidance was narrowed to a modest growth range. Cognizant now expects constant-currency revenue growth of 4.0% to 4.4%, while ETFs were reported as net sellers, adding near-term trading pressure.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation is a global information technology services and consulting company that helps organizations modernize their technology infrastructure, operations and customer experiences. The company serves businesses across industries including financial services, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, retail and communications.

Cognizant’s services include consulting, application development and modernization, cloud computing, data and artificial intelligence, digital engineering, cybersecurity and business process services.