Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,140,000 shares, an increase of 32.7% from the August 15th total of 5,380,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.0 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.
Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 651 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.8% during the second quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 20,494 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 33.5% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 630 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Glassman Wealth Services increased its holdings in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 13.6% in the second quarter. Glassman Wealth Services now owns 1,333 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 19.7% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,022 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 90.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several analysts recently issued reports on CTSH shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $77.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a report on Friday, August 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.75.
Read Our Latest Report on CTSH
Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance
Shares of CTSH stock opened at $70.17 on Friday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a twelve month low of $51.33 and a twelve month high of $72.71. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.25. The company has a market cap of $35.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.09.
Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 2nd. The information technology service provider reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $4.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.84 billion. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.31% and a return on equity of 18.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 21st were paid a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 18th. Cognizant Technology Solutions’s payout ratio is 27.04%.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile
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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.
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