Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation $CTSH Stock: Vise Technologies Inc. Grows Stake

Vise Technologies Inc. raised its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation (NASDAQ:CTSH) by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,044 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,332 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions were worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CTSH. Marquette Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 183.9% during the 3rd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 545 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 353 shares during the period. Signature Equity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 102.4% in the 1st quarter. Signature Equity Partners LLC now owns 599 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Nvwm LLC boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,059.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 1,058 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,009 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on CTSH shares. Susquehanna set a $82.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $69.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Monday. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $65.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $42.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $67.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.17.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:CTSH traded down $1.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.72. 5,629,325 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,673,993. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $62.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.80. Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.08 and a 52 week high of $87.03. The company has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.83.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 11.75%. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation will post 5.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Announces Dividend

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

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions is a professional services company that helps businesses use technology to modernize operations and develop digital capabilities. Its services include IT consulting, application development and maintenance, cloud and infrastructure services, data and artificial intelligence, engineering, and business process services.

The company serves clients across industries including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, communications, media, and retail. Its operations span North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with a significant global delivery network.

Cognizant was established in 1994 as a technology unit of Dun & Bradstreet and became an independent company in 1996.