Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) PT Lowered to $82.00

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) had its target price reduced by stock analysts at Citigroup from $90.00 to $82.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the information technology service provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 21.00% from the company’s current price.

CTSH has been the subject of several other reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $85.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $87.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.44.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Stock Performance

NASDAQ CTSH opened at $67.77 on Monday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52-week low of $58.09 and a 52-week high of $80.09. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market capitalization of $33.74 billion, a PE ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 1.06.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $4.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.76 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.98% and a return on equity of 17.83%. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.59 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cognizant Technology Solutions

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, EVP Kathryn Diaz sold 900 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.06, for a total transaction 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 approximately $640,522.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,111,915 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $3,860,483,000 after buying an additional 7,445,089 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $406,360,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 32.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,365,493 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1,861.7% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 1,686,597 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $127,389,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2,083.8% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,422,912 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $107,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357,755 shares in the last quarter. 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.