Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH) Stock Keeps "Outperform" Rating at Wedbush

Key Points

• Wedbush reiterated its “Outperform” rating on Cognizant Technology Solutions and maintained a $70 price target, implying 16.45% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: 10 analysts rate the stock Buy, 13 Hold, and one Sell, resulting in an overall “Hold” consensus and an average target price of $64.43.
• Cognizant reported quarterly revenue of $5.48 billion, up 4.5% year over year, but narrowly missed EPS expectations at $1.37 versus $1.38; institutional investors own 92.44% of the shares.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $70.00 target price on the information technology service provider's stock. Wedbush's target price points to a potential upside of 16.45% from the stock's previous close.

CTSH has been the subject of several other research reports. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a "negative" rating and set a $51.00 price target (up from $44.00) on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $64.00 price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $61.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Nomura decreased their price target on shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions from $93.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.43.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Price Performance

Cognizant Technology Solutions stock traded down $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.11. The company had a trading volume of 1,597,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,081,693. Cognizant Technology Solutions has a fifty-two week low of $37.08 and a fifty-two week high of $87.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The company has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.45.

Cognizant Technology Solutions (NASDAQ:CTSH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The information technology service provider reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.38 by ($0.01). Cognizant Technology Solutions had a net margin of 10.26% and a return on equity of 17.70%. The company had revenue of $5.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. Cognizant Technology Solutions has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.700-5.820 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Cognizant Technology Solutions will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 780 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cognizant Technology Solutions by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,610 shares of the information technology service provider's stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Resources Management Corp CT ADV lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 3,695 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 34.5% in the first quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 959 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak lifted its stake in Cognizant Technology Solutions by 1.1% in the second quarter. Security National Bank of SO Dak now owns 25,780 shares of the information technology service provider's stock worth $998,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. 92.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Company Profile

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corporation NASDAQ: CTSH is a global professional services and information technology company that helps businesses modernize their operations and technology infrastructure. Its services include IT consulting, systems integration, application development and modernization, cloud computing, data and analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital engineering.

The company also provides business process services and industry-specific solutions for sectors such as financial services, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, retail, communications, and information technology.