Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on CTSH. Barclays upgraded Cognizant Technology Solutions from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $78.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Cognizant Technology Solutions from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $82.33.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Trading Up 0.1 %

CTSH stock opened at $83.60 on Thursday. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a 52 week low of $63.79 and a 52 week high of $83.97. The company has a market capitalization of $41.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The information technology service provider reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.09. Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 11.60% and a return on equity of 17.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO John Sunshin Kim sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.11, for a total transaction of $400,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 39,022 shares in the company, valued at $3,126,052.42. This trade represents a 11.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Cognizant Technology Solutions

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Cognizant Technology Solutions in the third quarter valued at $1,972,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 3.5% in the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,187,850 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $91,678,000 after buying an additional 40,226 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,294,000. Matthews International Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 52.0% in the 4th quarter. Matthews International Capital Management LLC now owns 50,108 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $3,853,000 after acquiring an additional 17,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 12.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 101,420 shares of the information technology service provider’s stock valued at $7,828,000 after acquiring an additional 11,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.44% of the company’s stock.

About Cognizant Technology Solutions

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.