Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $95.00 to $103.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Cognizant Technology Solutions traded as high as $87.86 and last traded at $87.88, with a volume of 525638 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $86.96.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CTSH. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $88.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cognizant Technology Solutions has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $83.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cognizant Technology Solutions news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total value of $400,550.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 39,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,126,052.42. The trade was a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 59,028,485 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $4,539,290,000 after purchasing an additional 515,881 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 24,985,816 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,928,405,000 after purchasing an additional 867,176 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,437,687 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $1,032,239,000 after purchasing an additional 157,464 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 11,147,006 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $857,205,000 after purchasing an additional 123,745 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,655,180 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $819,383,000 after purchasing an additional 287,973 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.44% of the company's stock.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 1.3 %

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $80.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The company has a market cap of $45.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.07.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.78%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cognizant Technology Solutions Co. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Cognizant Technology Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. Cognizant Technology Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 26.61%.

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.